May I Take Herbal Medicine While Pregnant or Breastfeeding?

"I'm pregnant—can I take herbal medicine?"

To this question I do not answer "you can" or "you cannot." Because the answer changes completely depending on to whom, when, and what is used.

Still, the principle is clear. In the body during this period there are two people. So I look far more narrowly and far more cautiously than usual.

Why This Period Is Different

During pregnancy, the body's conditions change wholesale. Blood volume increases, the work the liver and kidneys must process increases, and the hormonal landscape shifts. The same medicine moves differently from usual.

And crucially, some of a medicine's components pass through the placenta. If you are breastfeeding, some also cross over into breast milk. A child is smaller than an adult and less mature in its ability to process. An amount that poses no problem for an adult may be different for a child.

This is not a story unique to herbal medicine. It is a principle that applies to all drugs. It is the same reason obstetrics is selective about which drugs to use.

So I Divide It This Way

First, there are materials I do not use. There are materials with a tendency to stimulate the uterus, to move the blood strongly, or to strongly induce discharge. I do not use such materials during pregnancy. The first 12 weeks, when the organs are being formed, is the period I am most cautious about.

Second, there are materials I use with caution. Even materials known as common and gentle are no exception. Materials that affect electrolytes and blood pressure, like licorice, can become entangled with swelling and blood pressure during pregnancy. (Herbal Medicine Has Side Effects Too — The Story of Licorice)

Third, there are nonetheless cases where it is needed. Cases of severe morning sickness where one can neither eat nor drink; cases where postpartum recovery is slow and the body keeps breaking down. There are clearly situations where doing nothing is more dangerous. In these cases I use it only as much as needed, briefly, while monitoring.

The Postpartum Period Is Different Again

After childbirth, the situation changes. The body is greatly depleted, sleep is interrupted, and there is much to recover. Many people seek herbal medicine in this period.

Here too, I do not think first of "tonifying." Because recovery does not happen through filling alone. Whether digestion works, whether one can sleep, whether swelling is going down—I look first at the conditions that let the body turn recovery on. (Tissue You Don't Use Withers — But Filling It In Doesn't Bring It Back to Life)

And if you are breastfeeding, you must tell me in advance. During nursing there are materials that must not be used or whose amounts must be changed. If the baby fusses more than usual, becomes limp, or has diarrhea, stop the medicine and let me know.

The Things I Always Ask

For someone who is pregnant or breastfeeding, I check the following first:

• How many weeks along you are, or how long it has been since delivery
• Whether you have a diagnosis or precautions received from obstetrics (gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, preterm labor, etc.)
• All the medicines and supplements you take (including iron, folic acid, and vitamins)
• Whether you have a history of miscarriage or preterm birth
• Whether you are breastfeeding, and how many months old the baby is

Without this information, I do not prescribe during pregnancy. If I do not know, it is right not to do it.

What I Worry About Most

What I worry about most in this period is not herbal medicine itself. It is medicine where you do not know who put in what.

There are cases where people, hearing "it's good for pregnancy" or "eat this after birth and the swelling goes down," buy something at a market or online, or receive it from an acquaintance, and take it. There is no verification there whatsoever. In this period above all, I ask you not to do that. (Where Did That Herbal Material Come From?)

Cases Where You Should Go to a Hospital First

For the following, an obstetrics consultation comes first, before discussing herbal medicine.

• If there is bleeding or your abdomen hurts at regular intervals
• If fetal movement has noticeably decreased compared with usual
• If you swell suddenly, or a headache and blurred vision come together (these can be signs of gestational hypertension)
• If there is a sensation of water flowing
• If you have a fever
• If postpartum bleeding increases again, or a breast infection is accompanied by high fever

Finally

Both "no herbal medicine during pregnancy" and "herbal medicine is natural, so it is fine" are wrong.

The correct statement is this: In this period there are clearly materials that cannot be used, materials that must be used with caution, and cases where they can be used when needed. Someone who knows that distinction using it while monitoring—that is my job.

Do not hesitate; tell me your current state exactly as it is. We will judge it together.