Is miconazole safe during pregnancy?

What should I do if I think I have a vaginal yeast infection while pregnant?

Women are more likely to get yeast infections during pregnancy than at other times. If you think you have a vaginal yeast infection, it is important to see your healthcare provider to be sure the infection is yeast before trying to treat it on your own. If you have another type of infection, you may need different treatment.

I use miconazole. Can it make it harder for me to get pregnant?

Using miconazole is not expected to make it harder to get pregnant.

Does using miconazole increase the chance of miscarriage?

Miscarriage is common and can occur in any pregnancy for many different reasons. One study found a small increased chance for miscarriage with the use of miconazole, but there were several problems with this study that could have affected the results. Other studies have not found that miconazole increases the chance of miscarriage.

Does taking miconazole 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 miconazole, might increase the chance of birth defects in a pregnancy.

Topical or vaginal medications enter the body in lower amounts than oral (pill) medications. This means less medication reaches the developing fetus. Since topical and vaginal miconazole are not well absorbed, they are unlikely to increase risks to a pregnancy. Most studies have shown that miconazole at low doses (<400 mg/day) does not increase the chance of birth defects.

Does using miconazole increase the chance of other pregnancy-related problems?

Studies have not been done to see if miconazole increases the chance for pregnancy-related problems such as preterm delivery (birth before week 37) or low birth weight (weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces [2500 grams] at birth).

Does using miconazole in pregnancy affect future behavior or learning for the child?

Studies have not been done to see if miconazole can cause behavior or learning issues for the child.

If a man uses miconazole, could it affect his fertility or increase the chance of birth defects?

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