Is this medication safe in pregnancy?
Look up any medication — over-the-counter or prescription. Evidence-based verdicts from ACOG, FDA, and CDC. 110 medications covered.
How to use this guide
Most pregnancy medication questions fall into two camps: "Can I take this for a symptom I have right now?" and "I have been on this for years for a chronic condition — is that still okay?" The two questions deserve different answers, and this guide is built to help with both.
Each medication has a verdict color, a short summary, and a deeper page explaining how the medication works, how the risks change by trimester, what dosing looks like in pregnancy, what safer alternatives exist, and how to talk about it with your provider. The point is not to replace your obstetrician — it is to make the conversation with your obstetrician faster and more productive.
The verdict colors are not blanket judgments. A "with conditions" verdict means the medication is appropriate in some pregnancy situations and not others — usually depending on trimester, dose, or duration. An "avoid" verdict means the default recommendation is against using it, with the understanding that specific medical situations sometimes override the default under provider direction.
The sources behind every verdict
Every verdict here is based on guidance from clinical bodies that specialize in pregnancy medicine. ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) sets clinical practice guidelines for obstetric care in the US. The FDA maintains drug labeling and pregnancy-specific warnings, including the strengthened NSAID warning from 2020 and the iPledge program for isotretinoin. The CDC issues recommendations for vaccinations and infectious disease management in pregnancy, including the strong recommendation for flu vaccines and Tdap during pregnancy.
For specific conditions and exposures, additional specialty societies weigh in: the American Diabetes Association on diabetes medications, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists on dosing, the American Academy of Pediatrics on substances and breastfeeding considerations. The MotherToBaby service (run by the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists) handles individual questions about specific exposures and is a free resource for both providers and patients.
This guide synthesizes those sources into plain-English summaries. It is not a substitute for any of them, and it is not a substitute for the clinical conversation with your specific provider about your specific pregnancy.
When to call your provider versus when to head to the emergency room
Some medication questions can wait for a routine appointment. Others cannot. Knowing the difference saves time when something urgent is happening and avoids unnecessary ER visits when the question is not urgent.
Same-day call to your obstetric provider: You took a medication and only afterward learned about a pregnancy concern. A symptom you have been treating with over-the-counter medications is not improving after a day or two. A chronic medication you take is one you have questions about for ongoing pregnancy use. A new symptom has appeared that you would normally treat with medication but want to confirm an approach for during pregnancy.
Emergency department: Severe allergic reaction to anything (swelling of lips or throat, breathing difficulty). High fever (over 102°F) that is not coming down with acetaminophen. Suspected overdose or accidental ingestion of a high-risk medication. Persistent vomiting that prevents keeping medications down for more than a day. Severe headache, vision changes, or abdominal pain that could signal preeclampsia. Any symptom that would be an emergency outside pregnancy is still an emergency during pregnancy, sometimes more so because of the additional risks to the pregnancy itself.
Other pregnancy safety lookups
Or visit the Pregnancy Safety Guide to search across all 460+ lookups.