Sage

Pregnancy

Human pregnancy evidence is limited. A 2013 cross-sectional survey of 300 women in Palestine found sage was among the herbs used by pregnant respondents: 120 women used herbs, and 55% of herb users reported sage. The paper found no statistically significant difference in pregnancy outcomes between all herb users and non-users, but it did not report sage-specific outcomes. A 2007 mouse study fed females a diet containing 0.25% sage essential oil before mating; it reported a change in how preimplantation embryos were distributed by cell count on day 4. This animal study did not test human use, live birth, miscarriage, or birth defects. EMA's 2016 final assessment report said no reproductive or developmental toxicity studies were available, but it did not cite the 2007 mouse study. The EMA's 2016 monograph says pregnancy safety has not been established and does not recommend medicinal sage leaf products because data are insufficient. NCCIH warns that thujone in common sage may have harmful effects during pregnancy. In July 2026, EMA's HMPC decided not to revise the monograph because it found no new relevant data that would change it.

Breastfeeding

LactMed reports no human data on sage use by nursing mothers or infants and no scientific studies measuring sage's effect on milk supply. A 2015 study gave 14 female rats a 30 mg/kg/day hydroalcoholic sage extract for 30 days; mammary alveolar buds, lobules, and ducts increased, but milk production was not measured. A 2025 randomized study assigned 80 lactating Merino ewes to a combined supplement containing sage and other herbs or control; the study found no significant treatment effect on serum prolactin (P=0.209). Because the supplement included parsley and echinacea, the effect of sage alone cannot be determined, and animal results do not establish human breastfeeding effects. The 2011 newborn and toddler seizure cases involved accidental direct sage-oil exposure, not breast-milk exposure. EMA says lactation safety for sage leaf has not been established and recommends against medicinal use because of insufficient data. NCCIH says little is known about sage during breastfeeding.

What was tested

The 2013 Palestinian survey questioned 300 women after delivery; 120 reported herb use during pregnancy and 55% of herb users reported sage, but the paper did not break pregnancy outcomes out by sage. The 2007 animal study fed ICR female mice a diet containing 0.25% sage essential oil for 2 weeks before mating and assessed embryo cell distribution on day 4 of pregnancy. The 2015 rat study used 30 mg/kg/body weight of hydroalcoholic sage extract for 30 days and examined estrous cycles, hormones, and mammary tissue, not milk volume. The 2025 ewe study tested a combined sage, parsley, and echinacea supplement in 80 lactating Merino ewes and measured prolactin and reproductive outcomes. No human study measuring sage levels in milk, infant exposure through milk, or sage's effect on human milk production was identified in the sources reviewed.