Can I take prochlorperazine while pregnant or breastfeeding?
A plain-words look at what the NHS, the US drug label and LactMed say about prochlorperazine.
In short
Pregnancy: Prochlorperazine can be taken while you're pregnant.
Breastfeeding: You can usually take prochlorperazine while breastfeeding, provided your doctor, health visitor or midwife is happy that your baby is healthy.
Your doctor, midwife or pharmacist can help you decide.
What this means for you
Pregnancy
- There's no evidence that it will harm your baby.
- Several medicines can be used for pregnancy sickness.
- Speak to your doctor or pharmacist about which one would suit you best.
Breastfeeding
- Nobody knows exactly how much prochlorperazine reaches breast milk, but the amount is likely to be small.
- Your baby will not be able to absorb much of it from the milk and is unlikely to get side effects.
- Even so, it's better to take it only now and then, or for a short time.
- If you have any worries about your baby, contact your health visitor, midwife, doctor or pharmacist promptly.
- This includes if your baby is unusually sleepy; is behaving differently, for example being irritable; or is not feeding as well as they usually do or not waking for feeds.
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
Prochlorperazine in pregnancy
The NHS says
Prochlorperazine can be taken while you're pregnant. There's no evidence that it will harm your baby.
Several medicines can be used for pregnancy sickness. Speak to your doctor or pharmacist about which one would suit you best.
In our words, from the NHS page Prochlorperazine (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
PREGNANCY NON-TERATOGENIC EFFECTS Neonates exposed to antipsychotic drugs, during the third trimester of pregnancy are at risk for extrapyramidal and/or withdrawal symptoms following delivery. There have been reports of agitation, hypertonia, hypotonia, tremor, somnolence, respiratory distress and feeding disorder in these neonates. These complications have varied in severity; while in some cases symptoms have been self-limited, in other cases neonates have required intensive care unit support and prolonged hospitalization. Prochlorperazine Edisylate should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus. Usage in Pregnancy Safety for the use of prochlorperazine during pregnancy has not been established. Therefore, prochlorperazine is not recommended for use in pregnant patients except in cases of severe nausea and vomiting that are so serious and intractable that, in the judgment of the physician, drug intervention is required and potential benefits outweigh possible hazards.
Prescribing label, section “Pregnancy” (opening excerpt): Prochlorperazine Edisylate (intramuscular, intravenous), Somerset Therapeutics, LLC. Read the full section on DailyMed. Quoted verbatim; US labels are written for US prescribers and patients.
This quote is from the intramuscular/intravenous formulation label.
Prochlorperazine while breastfeeding
The NHS says
You can usually take prochlorperazine while breastfeeding, provided your doctor, health visitor or midwife is happy that your baby is healthy.
Nobody knows exactly how much prochlorperazine reaches breast milk, but the amount is likely to be small. Your baby will not be able to absorb much of it from the milk and is unlikely to get side effects. Even so, it's better to take it only now and then, or for a short time.
If you have any worries about your baby, contact your health visitor, midwife, doctor or pharmacist promptly. This includes if your baby is unusually sleepy; is behaving differently, for example being irritable; or is not feeding as well as they usually do or not waking for feeds.
In our words, from the NHS page Prochlorperazine (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
Based on minimal excretion of other phenothiazine derivatives, it appears that occasional short-term use of prochlorperazine for the treatment of nausea and vomiting poses little risk to the breastfed infant.
“Summary of Use during Lactation”, LactMed record “Prochlorperazine” (LM227), quoted verbatim. Everything LactMed reports about Prochlorperazine while breastfeeding.
The US prescribing label says
Nursing Mothers There is evidence that phenothiazines are excreted in the breast milk of nursing mothers. Caution should be exercised when prochlorperazine is administered to a nursing woman.
Prescribing label, section “Nursing Mothers”: Prochlorperazine Edisylate (intramuscular, intravenous), Somerset Therapeutics, LLC. Label on DailyMed. Quoted verbatim; US labels are written for US prescribers and patients.
This quote is from the intramuscular/intravenous formulation label.
Other names
UK brand names (per the NHS): Stemetil, Buccastem.
Sources
- NHS, Prochlorperazine (nhs.uk), page last reviewed 7 September 2023. Paraphrased. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- US drug label: Prochlorperazine Edisylate (intramuscular, intravenous), Somerset Therapeutics, LLC, human prescription drug, label effective 1 September 2025, set ID d382e3d4-3175-42f2-b9eb-d9a7b97cbbfc. 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 “Prochlorperazine” (LM227), 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.