Creatine in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding: What Is Known

Urgent first: talk to your pregnancy or newborn care team

If you are pregnant, trying to become pregnant, or breastfeeding, talk to your obstetric clinician, midwife or pharmacist before using creatine. The reasons are plain: human safety data are missing, and the one breastfeeding reference we read advises caution. Do not stop a prescribed medicine because of this page.

The short answer

Proper evidence not found for the safety of creatine supplements in human pregnancy. A 2025 review of misconceptions says there is no direct evidence from well-designed randomized trials on safety and tolerability in pregnancy, and that early tolerability studies are only underway. [1] A 2021 review likewise said no human studies had evaluated supplementation in pregnancy. [2] A 2025 short review advises caution for pregnant women because evidence is lacking. [3] For breastfeeding, the LactMed database says it is probably best to avoid creatine supplements unless a healthcare professional prescribes them. [4]

What the sources say

Evidence labels: "preclinical" means animal or laboratory research; "promising but limited" means small or short human studies; "Proper evidence not found" means we looked and found nothing usable.

Why the animal findings do not settle it

Animal studies explored protection against organ damage when oxygen runs short during birth. [2] Researchers describe pregnancy use as early-stage and note that giving creatine to healthy fetuses raises its own questions. [1] Human bodies, amounts and routes differ from those animal experiments, so results do not carry over. Several authors of the reviews above report creatine-industry advisory roles or funding, so read them with that in mind. [2] [1]

Breastfeeding and the baby's kidney test

LactMed explains that creatine is converted into creatinine in mother and infant, and it can raise the infant's serum creatinine and alter estimates of the infant's kidney function. [4] That matters if a baby has blood tests. Tell the baby's clinician about any supplement you use. Certain pregnancy health problems can also raise creatinine, so a clinician reading your own kidney test needs to know what you take. [7] See Creatinine, eGFR and Cystatin C.

Official guidance

We did not find an official statement on creatine supplements in pregnancy in the sources we read. The LactMed entry is a government-run database entry, not a regulatory ruling.

Related pages

Pregnancy and breastfeeding covers general supplement safety. See Preconception, pregnancy, postpartum and breastfeeding, Creatine for women and Creatine, kidney questions and creatinine testing.