Can I take pantoprazole while pregnant or breastfeeding?
A plain-words look at what the NHS, the US drug label and LactMed say about pantoprazole.
In short
Pregnancy: Pantoprazole is not usually recommended in pregnancy, because there is very little information about using it while pregnant.
Breastfeeding: Pantoprazole can be taken while breastfeeding.
Your doctor, midwife or pharmacist can help you decide.
What this means for you
Pregnancy
- Your doctor may suggest a similar medicine, omeprazole, instead, as more safety information is available for it.
- If your symptoms are mild, you might want to try easing them without medicine.
- You could eat smaller meals more often and avoid fatty and spicy foods.
- Sitting up straight while you eat can also help, as it eases the pressure on your stomach.
- If symptoms come on at night, raising your head and shoulders in bed can help stop stomach acid coming up while you sleep.
Breastfeeding
- Information about pantoprazole and breastfeeding is limited, but it shows that tiny amounts reach breast milk.
- Your baby won't be able to absorb much of it from the milk, so side effects are unlikely.
- Side effects in breastfed babies from medicines their mother takes are very rare, but it's important to keep an eye on your baby whenever you take a medicine while breastfeeding.
- Keep taking the medicine and carry on breastfeeding as normal until you've had advice about your baby's symptoms.
When to get help
- Contact a healthcare professional or call 111 (NHS 111 in the UK) as soon as you can if your baby is feeding less well than normal, has constipation or diarrhoea or is vomiting (being sick), or is irritable.
- For symptoms not mentioned here, or if you're worried about your baby, you can also speak to any healthcare professional or call 111.
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist
This page is educational, not advice for your own situation. Talk to your doctor, midwife or pharmacist before you start, stop or change any medicine in pregnancy or while breastfeeding.
The details: what each source says
Pantoprazole in pregnancy
The NHS says
Pantoprazole is not usually recommended in pregnancy, because there is very little information about using it while pregnant.
Your doctor may suggest a similar medicine, omeprazole, instead, as more safety information is available for it.
If your symptoms are mild, you might want to try easing them without medicine. You could eat smaller meals more often and avoid fatty and spicy foods. Sitting up straight while you eat can also help, as it eases the pressure on your stomach.
If symptoms come on at night, raising your head and shoulders in bed can help stop stomach acid coming up while you sleep.
In our words, from the NHS page Pantoprazole (nhs.uk). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL v3.0). The NHS does not endorse this site.
The US drug label says
8.1 Pregnancy Teratogenic Effects Risk Summary Available data from published observational studies did not demonstrate an association of major malformations or other adverse pregnancy outcomes with pantoprazole. In animal reproduction studies, no evidence of adverse development outcomes was observed with pantoprazole. Reproduction studies have been performed in rats at oral doses up to 450 mg/kg/day (about 88 times the recommended human dose) and rabbits at oral doses up to 40 mg/kg/day (about 16 times the recommended human dose) with administration of pantoprazole during organogenesis in pregnant animals and have revealed no evidence of harm to the fetus due to pantoprazole in this study (see Data). A pre- and postnatal development toxicity study in rats with additional endpoints to evaluate the effect on bone development was performed with pantoprazole sodium. Oral pantoprazole doses of 5, 15, and 30 mg/kg/day (approximately 1, 3, and 6 times the human dose of 40 mg/day on a body surface area basis) were administered to pregnant females from gestation day (GD) 6 through lactation day (LD) 21.
Prescribing label, section “8.1 Pregnancy” (opening excerpt): Pantoprazole Sodium (oral), AvPAK. Read the full section on DailyMed. Quoted verbatim; US labels are written for US prescribers and patients.
Pantoprazole while breastfeeding
The NHS says
Pantoprazole can be taken while breastfeeding.
Information about pantoprazole and breastfeeding is limited, but it shows that tiny amounts reach breast milk. Your baby won't be able to absorb much of it from the milk, so side effects are unlikely.
Side effects in breastfed babies from medicines their mother takes are very rare, but it's important to keep an eye on your baby whenever you take a medicine while breastfeeding.
Contact a healthcare professional or call 111 (NHS 111 in the UK) as soon as you can if your baby is feeding less well than normal, has constipation or diarrhoea or is vomiting (being sick), or is irritable.
For symptoms not mentioned here, or if you're worried about your baby, you can also speak to any healthcare professional or call 111.
Keep taking the medicine and carry on breastfeeding as normal until you've had advice about your baby's symptoms.
In our words, from the NHS page Pantoprazole (nhs.uk). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL v3.0). The NHS does not endorse this site.
LactMed says
Maternal pantoprazole doses of 40 mg daily produce low levels in milk and would not be expected to cause any adverse effects in breastfed infants.
“Summary of Use during Lactation”, LactMed record “Pantoprazole” (LM409), quoted verbatim. Everything LactMed reports about Pantoprazole while breastfeeding.
What these words mean
- metabolite
- a substance made when the body breaks down a medicine
- carcinogenic
- able to cause cancer
Definitions adapted from the NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms (National Cancer Institute).
The US prescribing label says
Nursing Mothers Pantoprazole and its metabolites are excreted in the milk of rats. Pantoprazole excretion in human milk has been detected in a study of a single nursing mother after a single 40 mg oral dose of pantoprazole sodium. The clinical relevance of this finding is not known. Many drugs which are excreted in human milk have a potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants. Based on the potential for tumorigenicity shown for pantoprazole sodium in rodent carcinogenicity studies, a decision should be made whether to discontinue nursing or to discontinue the drug, taking into account the benefit of the drug to the mother.
Prescribing label, section “Nursing Mothers”: Pantoprazole Sodium (oral), AvPAK. Label on DailyMed. Quoted verbatim; US labels are written for US prescribers and patients.
Other names
UK brand names (per the NHS): Pantoloc Control.
Indian brands (per NPPA): Pan 40, Pantocid.
Indian combination brands that include pantoprazole: Pan-D, Pantocid D.
Sources
- NHS, Pantoprazole (nhs.uk), page last reviewed 31 July 2025. Paraphrased. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- US drug label: Pantoprazole Sodium (oral), AvPAK, human prescription drug, label effective 9 January 2026, set ID dcac4022-fea1-67c5-3331-fefcc3c440d8. DailyMed (National Library of Medicine). Public domain; quoted verbatim.
- Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), via NCBI Bookshelf, record “Pantoprazole” (LM409), bulk release of 22 September 2026. LactMed on NCBI Bookshelf. Public domain; quoted verbatim. LactMed is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Sources checked 26 September 2026. How we source and check every page.
Educational summary of named sources, not medical advice.