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Can You Take Creatine While Pregnant or Breastfeeding?
Ask your midwife or GP first, and expect them to say wait. No randomised trial has given creatine to pregnant women, and no study of any kind has looked at creatine supplements in breastfeeding women. The NHS pregnancy page says that if you need other supplements, speak to a GP.1 This page gives no dose. Outside pregnancy the adult evidence is on what creatine does.
Can you take creatine while pregnant?
The question needs a trial that gives pregnant women creatine or a placebo and follows them and their babies. That trial does not exist. The Cochrane review of creatine in pregnancy reports: "We found no randomised controlled trials for inclusion in this review."2 The 2025 review by a group of creatine researchers says there is "no direct evidence available from well-designed and executed randomized controlled clinical trials" on its safety and tolerability in human pregnancy.3
The NHS sentence on supplements beyond the two it recommends, from a page reviewed on 3 June 2026 and read on 11 October 2026: "If you need higher dose folic acid or other supplements, speak to a GP."1 Creatine is one of those other supplements.
What the research covers, and what it does not
Two Australian studies measured creatine in pregnant women without giving anyone a supplement. The first looked back at stored blood and urine from 287 pregnant women in Adelaide and found that the creatine in a woman's urine was associated with her baby's birthweight centile and birth length.4 The second followed 282 women with low-risk pregnancies in Melbourne from 10 to 36 weeks. Creatine in the blood stayed stable across pregnancy, eating more animal protein went with higher blood creatine until about 32 weeks, and "there were no links between creatine and neonatal growth".5 Nobody in either study took a supplement, so they say nothing about whether taking one is a good or bad idea.
The animal work is about complicated births, not healthy pregnancy. Researchers have asked, in small animal models, whether creatine fed to the mother could reduce brain injury when a birth is starved of oxygen.6, 7 That is a question about high-risk deliveries in animals. It has not been tested in humans: the Cochrane authors say "no trials assessing creatine in pregnant women for fetal neuroprotection have been published".2 It is not evidence about healthy human pregnancy either way.
One human study is registered, not reported. The 2025 review notes that early pharmacokinetic and tolerability studies of creatine in pregnancy are under way in Australia, registered as ACTRN12620001373965.3 Two phrases you may meet online, "nothing alarming" and "protective", are both unsupported: nothing has been looked for in pregnant women taking creatine, so nothing has been found, in either direction.
Why midwives and GPs usually say wait
The frustrating part, readers say, is the missing reason. The reason is the absence of safety data, not a known harm. Trials in pregnancy are rare for almost every supplement and medicine, because enrolling pregnant women means asking them to accept an unknown risk for their baby, and ethics committees set a high bar for that. "No trial" is the normal state of the evidence for most things a pregnant woman might take.
The NHS pregnancy page names the supplements that do have a place: "400 micrograms of folic acid every day" for the first 12 weeks, and "10 micrograms of vitamin D every day between early October and late March".1 Those are covered on folic acid during pregnancy and should you take vitamin D in pregnancy. For everything else, the instruction is the one quoted above: speak to a GP.1
A midwife's "wait" is advice for a pregnancy with no trial behind it, not a verdict on creatine. The same midwife will say the same about collagen and most other supplements (see is collagen safe to take when pregnant). What you can do at the appointment is simple: say what you were taking and how often, and ask whether to pause it.
Can you take creatine while trying to conceive?
No human trial has measured fertility, time to pregnancy or any conception outcome in women taking creatine. The two Australian cohorts began at 10 weeks of pregnancy or later, so they did not study conception.4, 5 A 2021 review of creatine in female reproduction notes that some studies link disturbed creatine metabolism to reduced fertility, and that "there is still no consensus on whether creatine is essential for successful reproduction"; those studies are about the body's own creatine, not supplements.6 So the answer to "does creatine cause infertility in women" is: not studied either way. If you are planning a pregnancy, the NHS advice that does exist is folic acid from before conception, and a GP conversation about anything else you take.1
Can you take creatine while breastfeeding?
No study of any kind has given creatine supplements to breastfeeding women. The medical literature searched on 11 October 2026 holds no such study, and the 2025 review lists breastfeeding as an area of research without reporting a study.3, 8 Because nothing has been studied, nothing is known about what a supplement does to a mother's milk or her baby, and this page says nothing about it.
What the NHS does say, on its breastfeeding and diet page (reviewed 15 May 2026, read 11 October 2026): everyone, including breastfeeding women, should consider "a daily supplement containing 10mcg of vitamin D during the autumn and winter months"; "Caffeine can reach your baby through your breast milk", so have "no more than 200mg a day"; and "Ask your GP or health visitor where to get vitamin supplements."9 Your GP or health visitor is also the person to ask about creatine.
Questions to bring to your appointment
This page does not answer these; your midwife or GP does.
- "I was taking creatine every day before I found out I was pregnant. Should I pause it, and from when?"
- "Is there anything in my blood results it could affect?" Creatinine is measured in pregnancy and creatine supplements raise that reading; the reason is on creatine vs creatinine.
- "When would it be reasonable to start again, and does breastfeeding change that?"
The adult evidence by life stage, including creatine in perimenopause and menopause, is on creatine for women; the side-effect record in non-pregnant adults is on creatine side effects.
Frequently asked questions
Is creatine safe during pregnancy?
No trial has tested it, so nobody can say safe or unsafe.2, 3 The NHS says to speak to a GP about any supplement beyond the folic acid and vitamin D it recommends.1
I took creatine before I knew I was pregnant. Is that a problem?
No human data says it is, and no human data says it is not, because nobody has studied it. Tell your midwife at your first appointment what you were taking and when you stopped.
Can babies or toddlers have creatine?
No. No study supports giving creatine to a healthy baby or toddler, and supplements are kept out of the reach of young children. If a small child swallows a quantity, call NHS 111. The under-18 evidence is on is creatine safe for teenagers.
Does creatine affect a pregnancy blood test?
Creatinine, a kidney marker, is measured in pregnancy, and taking creatine raises the creatinine reading. Your midwife should know you take or took it so the result is read in context. What the readings mean is for your midwife; the molecule-level explanation is on creatine vs creatinine.
Sources
- NHS. Pregnancy vitamins and supplements. Page last reviewed 3 June 2026; read 11 October 2026. nhs.uk.
- Dickinson H, et al. Creatine for women in pregnancy for neuroprotection of the fetus. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2014. PubMed 25523279.
- Antonio J, et al. Part II. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2025. PubMed 39720835.
- Dickinson H, et al. Maternal creatine in pregnancy: a retrospective cohort study. BJOG, 2016. PubMed 27550725.
- de Guingand DL, et al. Creatine and pregnancy outcomes: a prospective cohort study of creatine metabolism in low-risk pregnant females. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2024. PubMed 38432717.
- Muccini AM, et al. Creatine metabolism in female reproduction, pregnancy and newborn health. Nutrients, 2021. PubMed 33540766.
- Dickinson H, et al. Creatine supplementation during pregnancy: summary of experimental studies suggesting a treatment to improve fetal and neonatal morbidity and reduce mortality in high-risk human pregnancy. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2014. PubMed 24766646.
- Smith-Ryan AE, et al. Creatine supplementation in women's health: a lifespan perspective. Nutrients, 2021. PubMed 33800439.
- NHS. Breastfeeding and diet. Page last reviewed 15 May 2026; read 11 October 2026. nhs.uk.
