Essential Oils to Avoid During Pregnancy: A Safety Guide

Essential oils are highly concentrated plant extracts. Whatever you put on your skin or breathe in enters the body, and during pregnancy what enters your body can reach the baby as well. That is why oils you used without a second thought before may need a fresh look now.

If you sort the bottles you already have at home, they fall into four groups: oils to avoid completely, oils saved for labor, oils to be careful with, and the rules for using whatever is left.

1. Oils to avoid completely

These are not used at any point in pregnancy, whether on the skin or in a diffuser. Put them away first.

Sage — common (Dalmatian) sage and Spanish sage. This is not the same oil as clary sage, despite the similar name.

Hyssop

Pennyroyal

Fennel — both sweet and bitter fennel. Sweet fennel has a gentle reputation and often turns up in digestive blends, so check ingredient lists.

Myrrh

Sage, hyssop and pennyroyal are rich in ketones (thujone, pinocamphone and pulegone), compounds linked to nerve toxicity and miscarriage risk. If you were ranking by risk, these three would come first.

Small plain amber bottles being put away into a wooden box, with a sprig of sage, fennel seeds and a star anise beside it

The following oils, many of them common at home, are also avoided throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding:

Wintergreen and sweet birch — common in muscle rubs and pain-relief balms.

Oils high in camphor — such as camphor-type ho leaf.

Cinnamon bark and cassia

Aniseed and star anise

Oregano

Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas) — a different species from the lavender most people use (Lavandula angustifolia). Check the Latin name on lavender products.

Mugwort, wormwood, tansy and thuja

Parsley leaf and carrot seed

2. Oils saved for labor

These can act on the uterus, so they come with a set time window.

Clary sage — not before 37 weeks.

Jasmine — not before 37 weeks.

Rose — can stimulate contractions, so not before 35 weeks.

They are not used if there are signs of preterm labor, even after those dates. For the same reason, a pregnant person should not be the one massaging someone else with these oils.

3. Oils best left out during pregnancy

Some references class these as contraindicated in pregnancy and others only advise caution. Since the picture is not clear and there are plenty of other oils to choose from, it is safer to leave them out while you are pregnant.

Rosemary, peppermint, sweet marjoram, thyme, basil, nutmeg, citronella, cypress, juniper berry

Lemon-scented oils — lemongrass, may chang (litsea), melissa, lemon verbena, lemon thyme and lemon basil. These smell like lemon but are not lemon oil, so read names carefully.

Roman chamomile — wait until after the first three months.

4. If you do use oils

During pregnancy it is better to talk to a qualified aromatherapist or your healthcare provider than to choose oils on your own. And even then, the amounts are far smaller than most people expect.

A dropper releasing a single drop of oil into a small glass bottle of carrier oil

Keep it to 0.5–1%. In the first trimester, 0.5% (1 drop in 10 ml of carrier oil); after that, up to 1% (1 drop in 5 ml). Both apply only to a stable pregnancy with no history of miscarriage.

If you use oils on the skin in the first trimester, choose mandarin or sweet orange at 0.5%. These are given as relatively gentle examples for this stage.

Inhaling is lighter than applying. For nausea or anxiety, 1 drop on a tissue or 2–3 drops in a diffuser is enough.

For a footbath, use 2–3 drops mixed into a carrier oil first. Do not drip undiluted oil straight into water.

Avoid strong-smelling oils. Many people become more sensitive to smells during pregnancy, and a strong scent can bring on headaches or nausea.

Stay out of the sun after putting citrus oils on your skin. Citrus oils such as lemon, lime and bergamot contain light-reactive compounds, and pregnancy increases melanin production, which makes pigmentation more likely.

Never swallow essential oils. That includes adding them to drinking water.

A bedroom at night with a window slightly open, a folded tissue, a capped oil bottle and a small diffuser on the bedside table

5. When to skip oils and talk to your doctor or midwife first

Check with your obstetrician or midwife before using any essential oils if any of the following apply:

Bleeding or any other symptom that needs medical attention

A history of miscarriage, or being told your pregnancy is unstable

Twins or more

A diagnosis of pre-eclampsia

Heart disease, epilepsy, liver disease, or diabetes treated with insulin

Taking anticoagulants or other blood-thinning medication

If bleeding or any other symptom appears while you are using oils, stop straight away and get checked.

In short

With essential oils in pregnancy, it is easier to start with what to put away than with what is good. Put away sage, hyssop, pennyroyal, fennel and myrrh, along with wintergreen, camphor, cinnamon and Spanish lavender. Save clary sage, jasmine and rose for late pregnancy, and leave cautious oils such as rosemary and peppermint out while you are pregnant. With whatever is left, keep it to 0.5–1%, prefer smelling to applying, and if you are unsure, leave it out.

This article is general information based on the International Federation of Aromatherapists (IFA) guidelines on aromatherapy in pregnancy and professional aromatherapy training material. It does not replace medical advice. What is right for you depends on your own health, so talk to your healthcare provider before using essential oils.