Cough Drops During Pregnancy – Are They Safe?

You woke up this morning with a sore throat and cough, but chicken soup isn’t helping- should you take a cough drop? This is a great debate among pregnant women. Officially, they are on the OBGYN’s safe list, but some women are still scared to take them.

Considering a cough is only a minor health issue and may go away on its own, you may decide to skip all treatment and let it run its course. That is understandable because taking the wrong thing could harm your unborn child.

In the first trimester, certain medicines can slow fatal development or cause birth defects; in the second trimester, they could affect your baby’s nervous system; and in the third trimester, some medicines can make it hard for newborns to breathe on their own. If the cough becomes persist though, it could induce labor or even a miscarriage so the real question is: are cough drops one of these dangerous medications?

Menthol, common in many throat lozenges, is one reason why some women consider them to be. They think that ingesting it while pregnant can cause contractions or birth defects. There are currently no studies to support those ideas.

The amount of menthol in drops is so low that the risk for malformations is considered small. Zinc also causes worry for pregnant women. There are multiple animal studies that suggest high levels can increase the risk for malformations, particularly skeletal defects. Zinc is found in some throat lozenges, but in such small amounts that there is no need for alarm.

Although medications with pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine are considered safe during pregnancy, these ingredients could affect the flow of blood to the placenta. To reduce your chance of complications, you should always speak to your doctor before starting any medicine, especially if you have a high-risk pregnancy; better safe than sorry, as they say. Also, you should stay within or below the suggested amount on the package.

If you decide that taking medicine is not the right choice for you, why not try a natural cure such as steam inhalation or ginger juice with honey. I hope this information has been helpful, but the choice of taking cough drops while pregnant is ultimately up to you.