Are Essential Oils Safe to Use in Pregnancy?
Often times people claim that essential oils are 100% safe in pregnancy, and that there are no rules in using them during a pregnancy, because they are natural so that makes them safe. Well, just because something is natural does not make it safe, and there are actually a lot of guidelines to using essential oils in pregnancy. Many essential oils are not safe, and the ones that are safe still come with cautions within a pregnancy as well. In this post I will detail in depth what essential oils are safe, what essential oils aren’t safe (and need to be avoided) rules and guidelines for using essential oils in pregnancy and some ways we can utilize essential oils in pregnancy/labor.
First let’s go over some basics on essential oil usage in pregnancy.
Things we do know, how to use them safely and any guidelines we should be following. A general consensus across the board is that, yes, essential oil usage is safe in pregnancy and does not pose much of a risk. That’s a pretty broad statement however, and just because something is generalized as safe does not always make it safe. Some things to consider before using essential oils in pregnancy: What trimester pregnancy are you in? Is your pregnancy high risk? Does your care provider know, and approve, of using essential oils in pregnancy? Are the oils you are wanting to use pregnancy safe, classified as safe to use and do not pose any toxicity risk to you or your baby?
Generally speaking a lot of essential oils are fine to use in pregnancy, they don’t pose any risks. You can find the list I compiled as an aromatherapy student on which oils are safe for pregnancy and breastfeeding here. But that is once again, a broad statement, and as helpful as the list is it does not dive into the complexities of using essential oils while pregnant. There actually isn’t a lot of studies done on essential oils usage in pregnancy, and honestly what studies they do have involve rats or other animals and not really humans. This might be enough for you, this might not be. Personally I find it rather up in the air anyways, rat testing can give similar results to what would happen in human trials but a human trial would provide the best and most accurate information. If you are interested in diving into these studies, and what happened in them, you can check out Tisserand and Young and their book on Essential Oil Safety. For the sake of time however I am not going to try and compile what is in that book in regards to essential oil and pregnancy safety. There is a whole section on it however from pages 152-162 and you guys are more than welcome to get the book and check it out for yourself.
So there are not a ton of studies, that also means that there aren’t really any reported cases of essential oils causing any issues in pregnancy either. Either from lack of studies or lack of evidence. There are definitely essential oils to avoid though, due to their chemical constituents. So here is the list of essential oils that should never be used in pregnancy, and need to be avoided at all costs topically, aromatically and internally.
Essential Oils to Avoid in Pregnancy
Anise
Anise star
Araucaria
Artemisia vestita
Birch (sweet)
Black seed
Buchu (diosphenal CT and pulegone CT)
Calamint (lesser)
Carrot seed
Cassia
Chaste tree
Cinnamon Bark
Costus
Cypress (blue)
Dill seed (Indian)
Fennel (bitter and sweet)
Feverfew
Genipi
Hibawood
Ho leaf (Camphor CT)
Hyssop (pinocamphone CT)
Lanyana
Lavender (spanish)
Mugwort (common/camphor/thujon CT, common chrysanthenyl acetate CT and Great)
Myrrh
Myrtle (aniseed)
Oregano
Parsley leaf
Pennyroyal
Rue
Sage (Dalmatian and Spanish)
Savin
Tansy
Thuja
Western Red Cedar
Wintergreen
Wormwood (all chemotypes)
Wormwood (sea and white)
Yarrow (green)
Zedoary
Now most of these are uncommon oils thankfully, but a few of them are common and sold and even recommended to pregnant women all the time. Like wintergreen, cassia and Cinnamon bark; among others. This is the list straight from Tisserand himself, again in his book with sources if you would like to check it out. The reasoning for avoiding these oils is that these oils hold the most risk and can cause issues with a pregnancy. Possible issues that can occur as a result of using these essential oils are:
Neurotoxic: causes destruction of nerve tissue
carcinogenic: cause cancer
hepatoxic: toxic to the liver
nephrotoxic: toxic to the kidneys
abortifacient: cause abortion/terminates pregnancy
embryotoxic: toxic to the baby growing in utero (specifically in the first 8 weeks of gestation)
fetotoxic: toxic to the growing baby in utero
teratogenic: ability to cause malformations in a growing baby
These are the possible side effects of using these oils in pregnancy, at best nothing happens and at worst you could lose your baby or cause some serious side effects in pregnancy.
Now lets get into how we can utilize essential oils in pregnancy, and how aromatherapy can help with a pregnancy. Some things to remember and consider when using essential oils in pregnancy are: avoid essential oils as much as possible in the first trimester, respect topical maxes of all essential oils and remember to never go above a .5%-1% dilution in pregnancy, NEVER ingest essential oils in pregnancy even if the oil is safe for pregnancy, use essential oils moderately and appropriately throughout the entire pregnancy and NEVER use an essential oil that is not pregnancy safe. Alternatively, a hydrosol is a great option to use instead and you can always replace essential oil usage with hydrosols whenever possible.
Avoid essential oils as much as possible in the first trimester: You should really limit your use of essential oils in the first trimester, at best avoiding them all together. Do not use an essential oil unless you really need to. Sometimes aromatherapy can be beneficial for morning sickness. This would be an acceptable time, and most certainly avoid daily use as much as possible. Opt for aromatic use vs topical use and never ingest an essential oil while pregnant. I knew someone who claimed it was safe to ingest an essential oil blend containing Cassia essential oil to help with morning sickness. Cassia essential oil is an embryotoxic oil. This is not something that should be done, not matter how “comfortable” you feel with this. With the limited studies we do have, this much is apparent, and studying the chemical makeups of essential oils can tell us if something is going to be an issue in pregnancy.
Respect those topical maxes: Do not exceed the topical max of 1% in pregnancy for all oils. Some oils have a max dilution of less than that, do not exceed max dilutions for specific essential oils. I would personally recommend keeping the dilution low, I used a .5% dilution in my pregnancy. We also want to limit how often we are using essential oils. Something we should be doing anyways but the advice out there has people using essential oils daily, 10x a day. Not something to be doing in pregnancy. Use sparingly, use only when necessary. Daily use 1-3x a time at a .5% dilution is a great goal. Use oils for relaxing, for morning sickness and pregnancy pains. Utilize oils in labor, but don’t go over board on topical maxes and using oils every hour of every day.
Use essential oils appropriately: don’t pump your lotion full of essential oils, don’t diffuse essential oils 24 hours a day (half hour increments with 1-2 hour breaks is key), don’t use oils topically every hour of every day, don’t ignore dilutions, don’t ingest essential oils, don’t stick essential oils in your vagina (or rectally) and don’t use essential oils that are unsafe in pregnancy.
Alternatively, use hydrosols: a peppermint hydrosol can be used to help curb nausea. Rose hydrosol can be used for skin conditions and skin soothing. I will make a list below of hydrosols, where to buy them and what they could be good for in pregnancy. I am only listing ones I think would be beneficial in pregnancy though, so this definitely isn’t an extensive list.
Hydrosols
Balsam Fir: Congestion, achey joints
Basil: Gas or digestive issues
Calendula: Bumps/bruises, itchiness
Cedarwood: itchiness
Roman Chamomile: digestive issues, itchiness, headaches, PMS
Cinnamon Bark: Gas, stimulating (coffee replacement)
Clary Sage: Emotional health
Cypress: Hemorrhoids, Scars
Eucalyptus: Congestion
Frankincense:Skin care
Geranium: Emotional health
Helichrysum: Scars, bumps/bruises
Lavender: Skin care, calming, itchiness, emotional health
Neroli: Menstrual cramps (would most likely work on Braxton hicks as well)
Peppermint: congestion, digestive issues, headaches, itchiness, nausea, stimulating
Rose: Skin care
Rosemary: digestive issues, stimulating, thinning hair
Tea Tree: Fungal issues (Yeast, UTIs etc)
*Please note some hydrosols I was not able to find , and I wasn’t going to search and recommend a company I had never even used so I linked the ones I know of and am sure of.
When in doubt, use a hydrosol instead. I will be doing a later post detailing hydrosols available and how to use them but hydrosols are so much milder than essential oils. They are the leftover plant water from essential oils extraction. They can be ingested and used internally, so some peppermint hyrdosol in your water is a better option for nausea than ingesting peppermint oil (even a peppermint tea is a much better option than ingesting the essential oil!). So use a hydrosol aromatically, topically or internally for pregnancy to help with various issues. Some contradictions might still apply with specific herbs, and they do contain a small amount of the essential oil as well. While they are even less studies that I have found on hydrosols in pregnancy they are generally considered a much gentler option, especially in babies. A hydrosol can replace a lot of essential oil usage as well, making sure the amount of oils potential crossing over is limited. Also please do educate yourself on hydrosols a little more before taking internally or using internally. Diluting them down in water for ingestion is key in most cases and there are steps to take with other methods as well. I am still learning about hydrosols so I can’t speak too much on them, I highly recommend looking up trusted sources and researching this on your own.
Continuing on with essential oil use and pregnancy…
A lot of the guidelines in pregnancy are guidelines we should all be following anyways. No one should ever go above max dilutions, ingestion is rarely necessary and we shouldn’t be using toxic essential oils. We shouldn’t be diffusing at massive amounts, we shouldn’t be using essential oils more than necessary. As long as the usage of essential oils is kept at an appropriate amount then it should be fine.
There is still the question of the lack of research on the safety, and if essential oils cross to the placenta. Is there enough research to call this safe? Honestly, I’m not sure. People are often willing to accept essential oils because it’s safer than “traditional” medicines used in pregnancy but in actuality there is limited studies on essential oils effects in pregnancy. Just as there are limited studies on medicines used in pregnancy as well. We come to an area that is going to be hard to judge off of studies because in all honesty no pregnant woman is willing to allow studies done to the extent they need done to see if something happens. It really just boils down to following the guidelines that we do have with essential oils, avoiding the toxic oils and taking care in a pregnancy. But if you are more comfortable diffusing an essential oil for morning sickness than taking a prescribed medicine the possibility of harm from that is incredibly slim. And many aromatherapy books touch on the fact that proper and limited use of essential oils in pregnancy poses little risk anyways.
It’s also important to note that while peppermint is considered safe in pregnancy, it isn’t recommended for breastfeeding because of the potential to drop in supply. Also Rosemary is an oil up for debate in the community with leading aromatherapists considering it’s safe whereas other sources say to avoid that one. Generally it is considered safe with the Cineole and Camphor CT, however caution should still be used with this oil and if you don’t need it than don’t use it. When in doubt, don’t use an oil.
So what are some ways we can use essential oils to support a pregnancy?
Essential oils can be incredibly useful throughout a pregnancy for many complaints such as; morning sickness, stretching/itching and painful bellies, joint issues, emotional issues, pain relief and support through labor. I personally used essential oils in my bath for pain relief (please note that essential oil use in the bath for pregnancy should be limited to 2-4 drops in a carrier oil.) and I used them to help with my morning sickness, extreme aches/pains and to help support me throughout my labor. My favorite oils to use included Clary Sage, Chamomile, Peppermint/Spearmint, Lavender, Dill and a few others.
There are many great ways to apply essential oils to your pregnancy as well, personal inhalers with oils like peppermint, dill or ginger can help with morning sickness or nausea. An oil rub with those same oils can also help curb sickness. Clary Sage is useful to help with Braxton Hicks. Add some to a bath oil or bubble bath to relax and curb those contractions, also a great way to see if the contractions are the real deal. If they go away with some clary sage and a warm bath it’s not real labor. You can help to support labor with essential oils like Bergamot, Clary Sage, Geranium, Tea Tree, Lavender, Roman Chamomile, Jasmine, Rose, Frankincense, Black Pepper, Orange and Spearmint. Either by helping you relax, providing pain relief or helping to progress labor. I used Rose and Neroli, Peppermint and Orange to help calm me down and encourage labor.
You can use soothing or moisturizing oils like Chamomile, Geranium or Frankincense to help with those belly itches. Mix them in with a lotion or create your own with some shea butter for a soothing belly balm. Pain relief oils can help with those pregnancy cramps as well, I don’t know about you guys but I got the most wicked leg cramps in pregnancy.
And now I will leave you with a couple DIYs to use and help support in pregnancy.
Labor support blend:
Clary Sage
Rose
Neroli
Clary Sage can help progress labor and keep it from stalling, Rose and Neroli can help support and relax during labor, and Rose can also help progress labor as well. It’s a wonderful floral blend, and it you love florals this is a great blend to use. Others play around with the individual oils, use Clary Sage with your favorite oils to help progression. Use Neroli with other favorite oils (like lavender) to help relax. Diffuse this while in labor.
Morning sickness blend
Personal inhaler
Dill, Ginger or Peppermint
Use a single oil, or mix a couple together to make a please aroma. Use up to 15 drops of essential oil. Add these oils to a cotton wick and add that into a personal diffuser. Up to 3x times daily inhale deeply when feeling nauseous. Alternatively add oils to a diffuser (up to 3-6 drops) and diffuse for 30 minutes at a time 2-3x times daily.
Pregnancy Headache Blend:
Lavender
Spearmint (or peppermint)
Atlas Cedarwood
10 ml roller bottle
Mix 1 drop of Lavender, Cedarwood and Spearmint together. Add 2 drops of this mixture into a 10ml roller bottle. Top with carrier oil and cap off the roller, use once or twice a day for headache relief.
Belly Balm:
1/4 cup Shea Butter
1/4 cup Coconut oil
3 tbsp liquid carrier oil of choice (grape seed or apricot kernel is a good option)
1 tbsp beeswax pellets (optional)
Dried Lavender Flowers
Dried Chamomile Flowers
3 drops geranium essential oil
Melt the shea butter, coconut oil and carrier oil in a double boiler. Once melted add the dried flowers and simmer on low for 30 minutes to infuse. Strain the flowers when done, if using the beeswax add that after you strain and melt in the double boiler. Remove from heat and allow to cool a little bit. Add in your geranium essential oil, mix well and add to a glass jar. Use belly balm to provide relief for itchy bellies.
To recap, essential oil use in pregnancy can be safe and beneficial. Aromatherapy is an incredible tool, and as long as essential oil use is done safely and appropriately. Also when in doubt, don’t use essential oils. Follow the guidelines, don’t over use and don’t use essential oils that aren’t safe for pregnancy. Utilize hydrosols instead if you feel that is a safer option, and always have a goal in mind when using essential oils. Why are you using this oil? What do you hope to accomplish? Is it worth any risks associated? Could I achieve my goals with any other methods? Just because something is natural does not always mean it is safe, and there are so many risks that can be associated with using certain essential oils in pregnancy. Know your risks, know how to properly use essential oils and always be safe doing so.
