Can You Drink Chamomile Tea While Pregnant?

Chamomile tea is known for its calming properties, it tastes good, and it’s naturally caffeine-free. But is it okay to drink chamomile tea while pregnant?

Swapping coffee for chamomile can keep your daily caffeine intake down, and a soothing cup can even help you drift off to sleep if you’re struggling with pregnancy insomnia.

Between its anti-inflammatory properties and soothing effect, chamomile tea and pregnancy feel like a perfect match.

There’s even whispers that it could induce labor.

Still, should you be drinking chamomile tea while pregnant?

Let’s check the tea leaves.

In this article: 📝

Is it safe to drink chamomile tea during pregnancy?

Closely related to daisies, chamomile tea has been used for its medicinal properties for thousands of years – across cultures.

And for pretty good reason.

Containing various bioactive phytochemicals, including lots of antioxidants, chamomile tea has been used to effectively treat:

• The common cold
  
• Infant colic
  
• Diarrhea
  
• Eczema
  
• Digestive disorders such as upset stomach, ulcers, and gas
  
• Hemorrhoids
  
• Insomnia
  
• Anxiety and depression

There’s even promising studies that show chamomile’s potential in anti-cancer treatments and aiding coronary heart disease. 🤯

Yes, there’s a lot more to chamomile than being a sleepy-time tea.

With so much good, it’s fair to wonder can I drink chamomile tea while pregnant?

Especially because it has none of the caffeine found in regular tea leaves (as well as in coffee, soda, and even chocolate).

Well, the good news is you can, but not in large quantities.

How much chamomile is too much when pregnant?

Some doctors advise pregnant women to limit the number of cups of any tea they drink to two to three per day.

It’s also difficult to make one rule for all teas because they’re manufactured differently.

There’s a difference between the commercially produced chamomile you can pick up at the grocery store and the loose-leaf, ‘medicinal’ herbal teas sold in other places.

It’s really hard to know how strong these teas are, so it’s harder to predict the effect it’s going to have on your body.

Besides, you may have heard on the grapevine that drinking chamomile tea while pregnant is a no-no.

This is largely due to a study that associated chamomile with a higher incidence of preterm birth, low birth weight, and breast engorgement due to an increase in milk production – specifically when used in the second or third trimester.

However, the evidence from this study was scarce, so definitive conclusions were not made.

But to keep it on the safe side, experts recommend you keep it to two cups max per day.

Can chamomile cause early labor?

In one study, women who were already overdue and given chamomile extract went into labor more frequently than women who didn’t consume chamomile.

But we don’t have anywhere near enough evidence to prove that any teas can actually induce labor.

Equally, there is limited scientific evidence that shows that chamomile actually causes early miscarriage – though we prefer the term pregnancy loss.

What teas are safe to drink during pregnancy?

We know how much you might be missing your daily caffeine fix. We get it.

Luckily there are plenty of teas to sample safely during pregnancy, and they might even help to ease some of your less glamorous pregnancy symptoms:

Fruit tea 🍓

Teas that are made from dried fruits are caffeine-free and relatively safe to drink during pregnancy.

They smell amazing, you can have them hot or iced, and you can add honey if you’d like something a little sweeter.

Ginger tea 🍵

Ginger is the first thing that everyone suggests when you say that you’re suffering from pregnancy nausea.

It’s been used for centuries, and some people swear that it can really work.

If you’ve been unlucky enough to come down with a cold during pregnancy, ginger tea can also do wonders for a sore throat and stuffy nose.

🔍 Get Clued Up: Can you drink ginger tea when pregnant?

Peppermint and fennel tea 🌿

If pregnancy bloating is making you uncomfortable, these teas might help to get things moving.

Lots of people like to drink them after meals to help digestion.

Black, green, and white tea ☕️

And if you’re not ready to cut the caffeine completely, a cup or two of tea is fine during pregnancy.

For comparison, a regular cup of coffee contains about 100mg of caffeine (most doctors recommend staying under 200mg a day while you’re pregnant), but a cup of black tea has only 75mg, and green tea and white tea has even less.

Can I drink chamomile tea while pregnant: The last word

Because there are not enough studies that show chamomile is definitively safe during pregnancy, the general advice is often to abstain.

Sure, chamomile has been shown to induce labor in post-term pregnancy, but whether it can stimulate uterine contractions earlier is still uncertain.

At the end of the day, it comes down to your comfort levels.

But should you choose to consume chamomile tea during pregnancy, do so in moderation and after reassurance from your doctor.

After all, a big warm mug of calming tea is a great way to end the day.

Just maybe don’t replace all your daily beverages with herbal teas, and always talk to your doctor if you have any worries.