Can I take verapamil while pregnant or breastfeeding?
A plain-words look at what the NHS, the US drug label and LactMed say about verapamil.
In short
Pregnancy: Verapamil can be taken in pregnancy, although it is not commonly used.
Breastfeeding: It's OK to take verapamil while breastfeeding, as long as your baby is healthy.
Your doctor, midwife or pharmacist can help you decide.
What this means for you
Pregnancy
- If you take verapamil for high blood pressure, you'll usually be moved on to a different medicine.
- If you take verapamil for angina or heart rhythm problems, you should be seen by a heart specialist (cardiologist) and a pregnancy specialist (obstetrician) to talk about your medicine.
- Keep taking verapamil until that review has happened.
Breastfeeding
- Tiny amounts of verapamil get into breast milk.
- It has not been known to cause side effects in breastfed babies.
- Carrying on with verapamil 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.
- Until you've had advice about your baby's symptoms, keep taking verapamil and carry on breastfeeding as normal.
When to get help
- Contact a healthcare professional or call 111 (in the UK) as soon as you can if your baby: is not feeding as well as they usually do or not gaining weight as expected; is unusually sleepy or irritable; is vomiting; is unusually pale; or has 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.
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
Verapamil in pregnancy
The NHS says
Verapamil can be taken in pregnancy, although it is not commonly used.
If you take verapamil for high blood pressure, you'll usually be moved on to a different medicine.
If you take verapamil for angina or heart rhythm problems, you should be seen by a heart specialist (cardiologist) and a pregnancy specialist (obstetrician) to talk about your medicine. Keep taking verapamil until that review has happened.
In our words, from the NHS page Verapamil (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 Reproduction studies have been performed in rabbits and rats at oral doses up to 1.5 (15 mg/kg/day) and 6 (60 mg/kg/day) times the human oral daily dose, respectively, and have revealed no evidence of teratogenicity. In the rat, however, this multiple of the human dose was embryocidal and retarded fetal growth and development, probably because of adverse maternal effects reflected in reduced weight gains of the dams. This oral dose has also been shown to cause hypotension in rats. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Because animal reproduction studies are not always predictive of human response, this drug should be used during pregnancy only if clearly needed. Verapamil crosses the placental barrier and can be detected in umbilical vein blood at delivery.
Prescribing label, section “Pregnancy”: Verapamil Hydrochloride (oral), A-S Medication Solutions. Label on DailyMed. Quoted verbatim; US labels are written for US prescribers and patients.
Verapamil while breastfeeding
The NHS says
It's OK to take verapamil while breastfeeding, as long as your baby is healthy.
Tiny amounts of verapamil get into breast milk. It has not been known to cause side effects in breastfed babies.
Carrying on with verapamil 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 as well as they usually do or not gaining weight as expected; is unusually sleepy or irritable; is vomiting; is unusually pale; or has 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've had advice about your baby's symptoms, keep taking verapamil and carry on breastfeeding as normal.
In our words, from the NHS page Verapamil (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 doses of verapamil up to 360 mg daily produce low levels in milk. Newborns may have detectable verapamil serum levels, but levels are low. Verapamil would not be expected to cause any adverse effects in breastfed infants, especially if the infant is older than 2 months.
“Summary of Use during Lactation”, LactMed record “Verapamil” (LM277), quoted verbatim. Everything LactMed reports about Verapamil while breastfeeding.
The US prescribing label says
Nursing mothers Verapamil is excreted in human milk. Because of the potential for adverse reactions in nursing infants from verapamil, nursing should be discontinued while verapamil is administered.
Prescribing label, section “Nursing Mothers”: Verapamil Hydrochloride (oral), A-S Medication Solutions. Label on DailyMed. Quoted verbatim; US labels are written for US prescribers and patients.
Other names
UK brand names (per the NHS): Securon, Verapress, Vera-Til.
Sources
- NHS, Verapamil (nhs.uk), page last reviewed 13 March 2025. Paraphrased. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- US drug label: Verapamil Hydrochloride (oral), A-S Medication Solutions, human prescription drug, label effective 18 August 2026, set ID ed182ebe-8299-4680-9dea-ef79d30db683. 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 “Verapamil” (LM277), 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.