Gotu kola is not considered safe during pregnancy. No human studies have confirmed its safety for pregnant women, and both the European Medicines Agency and major pharmacological reviews recommend against using it during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Animal research raises specific concerns about fetal growth, and one review notes that chronic use may cause spontaneous abortion.
Why Health Authorities Advise Against It
The European Medicines Agency’s official monograph on Centella asiatica (gotu kola’s botanical name) is direct: “In the absence of sufficient data, the use during pregnancy and lactation is not recommended.” This applies to both the well-established medicinal use and traditional use categories. No fertility data is available either, meaning the herb’s effects on conception are also unknown.
This isn’t an unusual level of caution for an herbal supplement. Most herbs lack the rigorous human pregnancy trials needed to establish safety, and regulatory bodies default to recommending avoidance. But gotu kola carries more specific red flags than many other herbs, based on what animal studies have found.
What Animal Studies Show
A reproductive toxicity study in rats found that gotu kola caused a dose-dependent decrease in fetal weight, a pattern consistent with intrauterine growth restriction. Rats given 500 mg and 1,000 mg doses showed statistically significant reductions in fetal weight compared to controls. The lowest dose (250 mg) did not produce a significant difference. No visible birth defects were observed in the pups, so the concern isn’t malformation but rather restricted growth during development.
Separately, a pharmacological review published in the Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences noted that chronic gotu kola use “may prevent women from becoming pregnant by causing spontaneous abortion.” This is based on the herb’s known biological activity rather than a controlled pregnancy trial, but it adds to the pattern of concern. The combination of potential growth restriction and a theoretical miscarriage risk is enough for most experts to advise steering clear.
Oral Supplements vs. Topical Creams
Many pregnant women encounter gotu kola not as a supplement but as an ingredient in stretch mark creams. This is a reasonable distinction to make, since the amount absorbed through the skin is far lower than what enters the bloodstream from a capsule or tea. Centella asiatica is a common ingredient in skincare products marketed for pregnancy stretch marks, and topical formulations have generally shown good tolerability in studies with no reported allergic reactions or side effects.
However, the safety data on topical use during pregnancy specifically is thin. Most stretch mark studies using Centella asiatica were conducted postpartum rather than during pregnancy. If you’re using a cream that lists Centella asiatica or “cica” as one ingredient among many, the concentration is likely low. A dedicated gotu kola topical applied repeatedly over large areas of skin is a different situation, and the absorption question becomes harder to answer with confidence.
Contamination Adds Another Layer of Risk
Beyond gotu kola’s own biological effects, supplement purity is a real concern during pregnancy. The FDA has warned that ayurvedic and herbal products can contain undisclosed heavy metals, including lead, mercury, and arsenic. These contaminants aren’t always listed on the label. FDA lab testing of certain ayurvedic products found high levels of lead and mercury along with toxic compounds like strychnine.
Heavy metals are particularly dangerous during pregnancy because they cross the placenta and can affect fetal development. They also accumulate in breast milk. Chronic exposure causes kidney damage, neurological symptoms, and gastrointestinal problems in adults, and the developing fetus is far more vulnerable. Because herbal supplements in the U.S. are not tested or approved by the FDA before sale, there’s no guarantee that any gotu kola product is free from contamination.
Breastfeeding Carries the Same Unknowns
The lack of safety data extends to breastfeeding. No studies have measured whether gotu kola’s active compounds transfer into breast milk or at what concentration. Reviews of Centella asiatica consistently advise breastfeeding women to avoid it. If you used gotu kola before or during pregnancy and are now nursing, the same caution applies: there simply isn’t enough evidence to know whether it affects your baby through breast milk.
Safer Alternatives for Common Uses
People typically take gotu kola for wound healing, anxiety, circulation, or skin health. During pregnancy, there are better-studied options for most of these concerns. For stretch mark prevention, moisturizers containing cocoa butter, shea butter, or hyaluronic acid have stronger safety profiles during pregnancy. For anxiety or stress, your provider can discuss options that have been studied in pregnant populations. For circulation issues like swelling in the legs, compression stockings and elevation are first-line approaches that carry no chemical risk at all.
If you’ve already taken gotu kola early in pregnancy before realizing the concerns, a single exposure or short-term use is unlikely to cause harm based on what the animal data shows (significant effects required sustained, higher doses). But continuing to use it through pregnancy is not supported by available evidence.