Can I take risperidone while pregnant or breastfeeding?

A plain-words look at what the NHS, the US drug label and LactMed say about risperidone.

In short

Pregnancy: Risperidone can be taken in pregnancy, although there is little information about its safety.

Breastfeeding: You can take risperidone while breastfeeding as long as your baby is healthy, but speak to your doctor or pharmacist first.

Your doctor, midwife or pharmacist can help you decide.

What this means for you

Pregnancy

Breastfeeding

When to get help

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

Risperidone in pregnancy

The NHS says

Risperidone can be taken in pregnancy, although there is little information about its safety. If it does raise the risk of a birth defect, the increase is likely to be very small. The risk of you becoming unwell if you stop your medicine is potentially much greater.

Because of this, you will usually be advised to carry on taking risperidone during pregnancy. Speak to your doctor about your treatment as soon as you can.

You will usually be offered an appointment at an antenatal clinic with an obstetrician (a pregnancy specialist), and possibly with a mental health doctor or nurse.

Do not stop taking risperidone unless your doctor tells you to.

In our words, from the NHS page Risperidone (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 Pregnancy Exposure Registry There is a pregnancy exposure registry that monitors pregnancy outcomes in women exposed to atypical antipsychotics, including risperidone, during pregnancy. Healthcare providers are encouraged to register patients by contacting the National Pregnancy Registry for Atypical Antipsychotics at 1-866-961-2388 or online at http://womensmentalhealth.org/clinical-and-research-programs/pregnancyregistry/.

Prescribing label, section “8.1 Pregnancy” (opening excerpt): Risperidone (oral), APOZEAL PHARMACEUTICALS INC. Read the full section on DailyMed. Quoted verbatim; US labels are written for US prescribers and patients.

Risperidone while breastfeeding

The NHS says

You can take risperidone while breastfeeding as long as your baby is healthy, but speak to your doctor or pharmacist first.

Very small amounts of risperidone get into breast milk, and it does not usually cause side effects in breastfed babies.

However, a few breastfed babies have had side effects when their mother took risperidone together with other medicines that can cause drowsiness.

Carrying on with your treatment is important to keep you well, and breastfeeding also has benefits for both you and your baby.

Side effects in breastfed babies from medicines their mother takes are very rare. Even so, it's important to keep an eye on your baby while you take any medicine and breastfeed.

Contact a healthcare professional or call 111 (in the UK) as soon as you can if your baby: is not feeding normally or not gaining weight as expected; has a change in their usual sleep pattern; is behaving differently, for example being irritable; has sudden or jerky movements; has signs of a tummy upset, such as being sick or constipation; or is getting a rash.

If your baby has any other symptoms, or you're worried about them, you can still call 111 or get in touch with any healthcare professional.

Until you get advice about your baby's symptoms, keep taking risperidone and carry on breastfeeding as normal.

While you're taking risperidone, it's important that you do not sleep in the same bed as your baby.

In our words, from the NHS page Risperidone (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

Limited information indicates that maternal risperidone doses of up to 6 mg daily produce low levels in milk. Sedation, failure to thrive, jitteriness, tremors, abnormal muscle movements and respiratory depression have been reported in infants exposed to risperidone in milk. Because there is little published experience with risperidone during breastfeeding and little long-term follow-up data, other agents may be preferred, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant. Systematic reviews of second-generation antipsychotics concluded that risperidone seemed to be a second-line agent during breastfeeding because of the limited data available and higher excretion into milk relative to other agents.[1-3] A safety scoring system finds risperidone to be possible to use cautiously during breastfeeding.[4] Monitor the infant for drowsiness, weight gain, tremors, respiratory rate, abnormal muscle movements, and developmental milestones, especially if other antipsychotics are used concurrently.

“Summary of Use during Lactation”, LactMed record “Risperidone” (LM240), quoted verbatim. Everything LactMed reports about Risperidone while breastfeeding.

The US prescribing label says

Nursing Mothers Infertility Females Based on the pharmacologic action of risperidone (D2 receptor antagonism), treatment with risperidone may result in an increase in serum prolactin levels, which may lead to a reversible reduction in fertility in females of reproductive potential [see Warnings and Precautions (5.6) ].

Prescribing label, section “Nursing Mothers”: Risperidone (oral), APOZEAL PHARMACEUTICALS INC. Label on DailyMed. Quoted verbatim; US labels are written for US prescribers and patients.

Sources

  1. NHS, Risperidone (nhs.uk), page last reviewed 15 April 2025. Paraphrased. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. US drug label: Risperidone (oral), APOZEAL PHARMACEUTICALS INC, human prescription drug, label effective 30 August 2026, set ID 4ab6d256-6590-45be-a5df-f505987f96c3. DailyMed (National Library of Medicine). Public domain; quoted verbatim.
  3. Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), via NCBI Bookshelf, record “Risperidone” (LM240), 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.