Is Lisinopril safe during pregnancy?
What the FDA-approved label for Lisinopril actually states in its Pregnancy Risk Summary — not a secondhand verdict. The decision is one to make with your prescriber.
What the label’s pregnancy summary says
The label carries a boxed warning and a §8.1 Pregnancy risk summary stating lisinopril can cause fetal harm. As a drug acting on the renin-angiotensin system, use in the second and third trimesters reduces fetal renal function and increases fetal and neonatal illness and death; it can cause oligohydramnios leading to reduced fetal kidney function, lung underdevelopment, skull and skeletal deformities, low blood pressure, and death. The label directs that when pregnancy is detected, lisinopril be discontinued as soon as possible. If there is no appropriate alternative, the mother should be told of the potential fetal risk and monitored with serial ultrasounds; exposed infants should be watched for low blood pressure, low urine output, and high potassium. Anyone pregnant or planning pregnancy should consult their prescriber — do not start or stop this medication on your own.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lisinopril safe to take during pregnancy?
The label flags a real concern for Lisinopril — see the summary above. This is not a drug to start or continue in pregnancy on your own; it needs a prescriber weighing the specific risks against the reason you would take it. The one universal rule: do not start or stop a medication in pregnancy without medical advice — an untreated condition can carry its own risk to a pregnancy.
What does the FDA label say about Lisinopril in pregnancy?
The summary above is transcribed from the label's Pregnancy Risk Summary (§8.1). Since 2015 FDA labels replaced the old A/B/C/D/X letter categories with a narrative that describes what human and animal data actually show, which is what you are reading here — not a single letter grade.
Is Lisinopril safe while breastfeeding?
That is a separate question the label answers in a different section (§8.2, Lactation), and it does not always match the pregnancy verdict. This page covers pregnancy only. For breastfeeding, ask your prescriber or pharmacist, or check the NIH LactMed database, which summarizes the drug-in-breast-milk evidence.
More guides for Lisinopril
Source
Lisinopril — DailyMed FDA label (§8.1 Pregnancy, boxed warning) ↗
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The pregnancy information is transcribed from the drug’s FDA-approved label (§8.1) and mirrors what the label states — “insufficient data” is never rounded up to “safe.” 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.