The pregnancy tea bible: is it safe to drink?

There's a shelf in your kitchen with the teas on it. The rosehip you bought for winter colds, the Greek mountain tea somebody brought back from holiday, a box of anise your gran swears by, the peppermint you actually drink. And now you're pregnant, standing in front of it, wondering which ones are still fine.

Here's the thing the blogs won't tell you: the NHS says much less about individual teas than the internet does. It has a caffeine limit, a cap on herbal teas, one named ingredient to avoid, and a kind word for ginger. For most of the teas people ask us about, it has no position at all.

So that's how this is written. What the NHS says, tea by tea, and where it says nothing, I say so, rather than making something up.

Key facts

• The NHS caffeine limit in pregnancy is 200mg a day. Its own figures: about 100mg in a cup of instant coffee, 75mg in a cup of black or green tea, 40mg in a can of cola, 80mg in a 250ml energy drink, and under 25mg in a 50g bar of dark chocolate (NHS, foods to avoid in pregnancy).
• Herbal teas, with peppermint and chamomile as the NHS's own examples: avoid drinking more than 4 cups a day, and avoid teas containing liquorice root.
• Ginger is the one the NHS has something good to say about: there's some evidence that foods or drinks containing ginger may help with nausea and vomiting. Ginger supplements are a pharmacist question first (NHS, vomiting and morning sickness).
• On anything sold as a remedy rather than a drink, the NHS's line is that not all "natural" remedies or complementary therapies are safe in pregnancy (NHS, medicines in pregnancy).

What the NHS says about tea in pregnancy

Two rules, one exception, and it's all on one NHS page.

Caffeine. No more than 200mg a day, from everything: tea, coffee, cola, energy drinks, chocolate. The NHS's reason is that too much caffeine has been linked to a higher chance of miscarriage and stillbirth, which is why the number exists.

Green tea is not the loophole people hope it is; the NHS puts it at the same 75mg a cup as black tea. Decaf gets you out of most of it.

Herbal teas. The NHS files these under drinks to limit, not drinks to avoid: no more than 4 cups of herbal tea a day, and none that contain liquorice root. Peppermint and chamomile are the examples it gives. That 4 cups line is the one that covers every tea further down this page that the NHS doesn't name.

The exception. Anything you're drinking to do a job rather than because you like it. A "detox", a "cleanse", a "slimming" blend, a tea for wind, a "pregnancy tea".

The NHS's medicines page says not all natural remedies are safe in pregnancy and that some products aren't what the label says they are. So those go past a pharmacist or your midwife before they go in the cup, same as a tablet would.

Which teas are safe in pregnancy?

Here's the whole shelf in one table. "No NHS line" means exactly that: the NHS doesn't name it, so the general herbal rule is what you've got.

Is rosehip tea safe during pregnancy?

Rosehip is the one people ask about most after Greek mountain tea, usually because it's in the cupboard already or because it comes in a blend with hibiscus. The NHS doesn't mention rosehip anywhere in its pregnancy food and drink advice. That's not a green light and it's not a red one; it's silence.

What that leaves you with is the general herbal rule (no more than 4 cups of herbal tea a day) and the medicines rule (if it's being sold to you as a remedy rather than a drink, ask a pharmacist or your midwife).

An occasional cup of a supermarket rosehip tea sits inside those rules. Drinking it by the potful every day because a blog said it's full of vitamin C doesn't, and there's no NHS advice saying it does anything of the sort. If it's a rosehip and hibiscus blend, read the hibiscus bit below as well.

Is Greek mountain tea safe during pregnancy?

Sideritis, ironwort, shepherd's tea, whichever name is on the packet. It's a Greek and Balkan habit that's arrived in UK health food shops, and it's the search that brings more people to this page than any other. The NHS has nothing on it. Neither, as far as we can find, does any NHS trust, and that is the honest answer to "is it safe": nobody has checked.

The old version of this post said to avoid it in pregnancy, and I'd still lean that way for a daily habit. Not because there's evidence of harm, but because there's no evidence either way, and the NHS's line on herbal products is that not all natural remedies are safe in pregnancy.

A cup at your mum's house is the 4 cups rule. Your morning drink, every morning, is a conversation with your midwife.

Is anise tea safe during pregnancy?

Anise (aniseed) gets asked about a lot, partly because it's a traditional stomach settler and partly because it tastes of liquorice. Those are two separate things, and the difference matters here.

The NHS has no line on anise itself. It does have a line on liquorice root: avoid teas containing it. Plenty of aniseed and "liquorice flavour" blends contain both, so the job is to turn the box over. Anise on its own, the odd cup, inside the 4 cups rule. Liquorice root on the ingredients list, back on the shelf.

Hibiscus tea in pregnancy

Hibiscus is in most red fruit teas and nearly every rosehip blend, which is why it's on this page. The NHS doesn't name it. The old version of this post said hibiscus wasn't recommended in pregnancy; we can't point you to an NHS page that says so, and I'm not going to pretend one exists.

What I can say is that the first trimester is when people worry about it most, and if you'd rather be cautious, the cautious option costs you nothing: leave it out until you've asked your midwife, and drink peppermint in the meantime. If you're already drinking the odd cup, the 4 cups of herbal tea a day rule is the one that applies.

Fennel, cerasee, nettle and dandelion tea in pregnancy

Fennel. Fennel seeds and fennel tea are old digestion remedies. No NHS line. The odd cup sits under the herbal rule; a "fennel for wind" remedy from the health food shop is a medicine, so it's a pharmacist question.

Cerasee. Bitter melon tea, a Caribbean staple, and it's drunk as a medicine more than as a drink. That's the point: anything drunk to do a job in pregnancy goes through the NHS's medicines advice, which is to check with a pharmacist, midwife or GP first. No NHS page covers cerasee by name.

Nettle. In a lot of "pregnancy" blends. No NHS line, and "pregnancy tea" on the box is marketing, not a safety check. Read the ingredients and treat it as herbal.

Dandelion. Same again. No NHS line, the herbal rule, and ask before it becomes daily.

Iced tea while pregnant

Iced tea is tea. A shop-bought bottle is usually made from black tea, so it counts towards your 200mg the same as a hot cup, and the label will tell you how much caffeine is in it if you look. Some are made from green tea (same caffeine as black, says the NHS) and some are herbal and caffeine free. Sugar is the other thing on the label worth reading.

Homemade, a jug of cold peppermint with a slice of lemon is the version that ducks both, and it's what most of us here drink in a hot July.

Ginger, peppermint and chamomile tea in pregnancy

These three are the ones the NHS actually names, so they're the easy ones.

Ginger is the tea with something in its favour: the NHS says there's some evidence that foods or drinks containing ginger may help reduce nausea and vomiting. Grated fresh ginger in hot water counts, and so does a ginger tea bag. Ginger supplements in capsule form are a check with your pharmacist first.

Peppermint and chamomile are the NHS's own examples of herbal teas: fine, no more than 4 cups a day between them. Chamomile is the bedtime one, peppermint after a meal is the one people swap their coffee for. No vitamins, cold cures or headache cures claimed for either; the NHS doesn't make those claims and neither will I.

Raspberry leaf tea

Raspberry leaf gets its own post because it's a different question: not "is it safe to drink" but "does it do anything". The short version is that the NHS says there are no proven ways to bring on labour at home, and NHS maternity units list raspberry leaf tea under the myths.

It's a third trimester, ask your midwife first subject, and it's a herbal tea, so 4 cups a day at most. What the NHS says about raspberry leaf tea has the whole thing, including who should skip it.

Tea for a cold in pregnancy

A cold in pregnancy is miserable because most of what you'd normally take is off the table without checking. The NHS's own cold advice is rest, plenty of fluids, and a hot lemon and honey drink for a sore throat, which is a tea in all but name (NHS, common cold).

The same page says some cough and cold medicines aren't suitable in pregnancy, so anything in a sachet or a bottle goes past a pharmacist first.

Ginger if there's nausea with it. Peppermint if you can't taste anything else. And the 200mg still counts, even when you're ill.

Questions we get asked

How much caffeine is in a cup of tea?

About 75mg, says the NHS, and it puts green tea at the same. That's over a third of the 200mg daily limit, so a cup of tea and an instant coffee is most of your day's allowance, and two teas and a coffee takes you over it.

Can I drink decaf tea when pregnant?

Yes. The NHS limit is about caffeine and decaf has had most of it taken out. It's still tea rather than a herbal tea, so the 4 cups line doesn't apply to it either.

Can I drink rosehip and hibiscus tea in the first trimester?

The NHS has no line on either. If you want the cautious answer, leave it until you've asked your midwife and drink peppermint in the meantime. If you're already drinking the odd cup, stay inside 4 cups of herbal tea a day and mention it at your booking appointment.

What teas should I avoid when pregnant?

Anything with liquorice root in it; that's the NHS's named one. More than 4 cups of herbal tea a day. Enough tea and coffee to take you past 200mg of caffeine. And any tea sold as a detox, cleanse, slimming or "pregnancy" remedy that you haven't run past a pharmacist or your midwife, because the NHS's line is that not all natural remedies are safe in pregnancy.

Is Greek mountain tea the same as sideritis?

Yes. Sideritis is the plant; Greek mountain tea, ironwort and shepherd's tea are the names on the packet. Same tea, same answer: no NHS position, so it's a midwife question if you want it daily.

If you're still counting weeks, the due date calculator tells you which one you're in, and the pregnancy collection is where the comfortable stuff lives for the days a cuppa isn't enough.