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Is echinacea safe during pregnancy?

Answered by MotherToBaby’s teratology specialists, quoted in full — including the questions most pages skip, like whether a father’s exposure matters.

By the pharmaranks editorial teamReviewed against the MotherToBaby fact sheet for echinacea (OTIS, published via the NIH) sourcesUpdated Jul 21, 2026How we research

The questions people actually ask about echinacea in pregnancy

Answered by MotherToBaby, the fact sheets written by the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists and published through the NIH. Quoted in full — we do not condense them.

I take echinacea. Can it make it harder for me to get pregnant?

Studies have not been done to see if taking echinacea could make it harder to get pregnant.

Does taking echinacea increase the chance of miscarriage?

Miscarriage is common and can occur in any pregnancy for many different reasons. Animal studies suggest that echinacea products might increase the chance of miscarriage. However, it is not clear how the echinacea preparations and dose levels used in the animal studies compare to what would be used by humans. One small study in humans found no increased chance of miscarriage in those who took echinacea when compared to those who did not.

Does taking echinacea increase the chance of birth defects?

Birth defects can happen in any pregnancy for different reasons. Out of all babies born each year, about 3 out of 100 (3%) will have a birth defect. We look at research studies to try to understand if an exposure, like echinacea, might increase the chance of birth defects in a pregnancy. Small studies looking at exposure to echinacea during pregnancy have not reported an increased chance of birth defects above the background risk.

Does taking echinacea in pregnancy increase the chance of other pregnancy-related problems?

In a study comparing over 350 pregnancies exposed to echinacea and over 68,000 unexposed pregnancies, no increased chance of preterm delivery (birth before week 37), low birth weight (weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces [2500 grams] at birth), or small for gestational age infants was reported.

Does taking echinacea in pregnancy affect future behavior or learning for the child?

Studies have not been done to see if echinacea can increase the chance of behavior or learning issues for the child.

Some echinacea preparations have been found to be contaminated by heavy metals like lead. High blood lead levels during pregnancy can harm fetal development. More information on lead can be found in our factsheet here https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/lead-pregnancy/ ,

If a man takes echinacea could it affect his fertility or increase the chance of birth defects?

Studies have not been done in humans to see if taking echinacea could affect male fertility (ability to get a wonan pregnant) or increase the chance of birth defects. In general, exposures that fathers or sperm donors have are unlikely to increase the risks to a pregnancy. For more information, please see the MotherToBaby fact sheet Paternal Exposures at https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/paternal-exposures-pregnancy/ .

Quoted from MotherToBaby Fact Sheets — Echinacea, published March 2025. MotherToBaby states its fact sheets should not take the place of medical care and advice from your healthcare providers.

Breastfeeding is a separate question — what LactMed says about echinacea

This is general reference information, not medical advice. Whether to take any medication in pregnancy is a decision for you and your prescriber; do not start or stop a drug on your own, because an untreated condition can also carry risk.