Is nettle tea safe during pregnancy?

What does the evidence say about nettle tea during pregnancy?

1. Only minimal scientific support for a milk-supply effect of stinging nettle exists, and a meta-analysis of a nettle-containing herbal product found low certainty evidence with problems including lack of blinding and unstated randomization methods. 1
2. Stinging nettle contains tannins that interact with iron taken at the same time, reducing the effect in people who need iron supplements. 2
3. A case report describes galactorrhea and hormonal changes following ingestion of nettle tea, and topical nettle applied to one mother's nipple produced an allergic skin rash in her breastfed infant. 1
4. Dietary supplements do not require extensive pre-marketing approval from the FDA, so manufacturers are responsible for safety but do not have to prove safety and effectiveness before a product is sold. 1
5. Most herbs used by pregnant women in a multinational study fell into caution or unknown safety categories rather than the safe category, which is the position an herb with no pregnancy trials occupies by default. 3

Is nettle tea safe in each trimester?

• First trimester. This is where the gap between tradition and evidence is widest. Nettle appears in pregnancy tea blends and is often recommended informally, yet no pregnancy studies support that use, and the uterine-stimulation concern that circulates has never been settled either way. First trimester is the trimester to be most conservative about an herb with no data.
• Second trimester. People usually reach for nettle because it is described as iron-rich, which is exactly when the irony bites: nettle contains tannins that reduce the effect of iron you take alongside it. If iron is your reason for drinking it, that is worth raising with your provider before you build a routine around it.
• Third trimester. Nettle turns up postpartum too, promoted as a milk-supply herb, but only minimal scientific support for that effect exists and the evidence has been graded low certainty. Deciding now, rather than in the first exhausted week, gives you room to ask your clinician what they actually recommend.