The Best Teas to Drink During Pregnancy (and Which Ones to Skip)

Expecting and missing your daily cup? You're not alone, and the good news is you don't have to give it up. Plenty of teas are safe to drink during pregnancy, and a few of them may even take the edge off the rougher parts, like the queasy mornings and the restless nights. The trick is knowing which ones earn a spot in your mug and which belong on the shelf until after delivery.

Here's the honest version. The research on herbal teas in pregnancy is thinner than anyone would like, so the smart approach is a cautious one: favor a short list of well-studied teas, watch your caffeine, and treat your provider as the final word. Below are the safe picks, the ones to avoid, how much caffeine is okay, and how to brew it all well.

Do you have to give up tea when you're pregnant?

Short answer: usually not. Most expecting parents can enjoy tea while pregnant as long as they keep caffeine in check and choose herbal blends carefully. A warm cup can be a real comfort, and unsweetened tea counts toward your daily fluids, which matters more than ever when you're building a whole new human.

That said, "herbal" does not automatically mean "harmless." Herbs are concentrated plant compounds, and a few can act on the uterus in ways that aren't a problem at the dinner table but can be in a strong daily brew. Because the safety data is limited, this is one place where it pays to ask first.

How much caffeine is safe during pregnancy?

This is the big one. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) advises keeping caffeine under 200 mg per day during pregnancy, which works out to about one 12-ounce cup of brewed coffee. Worth flagging: older guidance you'll still see floating around says 300 mg, but 200 is the more current and conservative number, so that's the one to plan around.

Why the caution? Caffeine crosses the placenta, and your baby can't process it the way you do. Your own body also clears it more slowly when you're pregnant, sometimes up to three times as long, so it lingers. Higher intakes have been linked in some studies to a greater risk of miscarriage and low birth weight, though the research isn't fully settled. Staying under the limit is the sensible play.

Every true tea, the kind made from the Camellia sinensis plant, has some caffeine: that's green, black, white, oolong, and matcha. Herbal teas, or tisanes, are naturally caffeine-free, which is part of why they're so popular in pregnancy. If you love your morning cuppa, here's roughly how the true teas stack up per 8-ounce cup:

Tea (8 oz cup)	Approx. caffeine	How many fit under 200 mg
Matcha	60–80 mg	2–3 cups
Black tea	47–53 mg	3–4 cups
Green tea	29–49 mg	4–6 cups
White tea	15–30 mg	6–8 cups
Herbal tea (tisane)	0 mg	Caffeine-free

Remember that the 200 mg ceiling covers your whole day, not just tea. Coffee, chocolate, soda, and energy drinks all add up, so count them together. If you'd rather skip the math, leaning on caffeine-free options takes the guesswork out of it. Our breakdown of how much caffeine is in your tea goes deeper, and if green is your comfort drink, our green teas sit at the lighter end of the scale.

Herbal teas generally considered pregnancy-friendly

A handful of herbal teas have a long history of use in pregnancy and enough evidence that many providers consider them reasonable in moderation, meaning about one to two cups a day. These three come up again and again. Stick to single-ingredient teas where you can, since they're easier to vet than multi-herb blends.

Ginger

Ginger is the most-studied herbal remedy for pregnancy nausea, and it has earned its reputation. Research supports it for easing morning sickness, nausea, and vomiting, which makes it a first-trimester favorite. A warm cup is a gentle way to settle a rolling stomach. Our French Lemon Ginger pairs bright citrus with real ginger and stays fully caffeine-free.

Peppermint

Peppermint is widely used to calm gas, bloating, nausea, and heartburn, all of which tend to show up uninvited during pregnancy. It's considered likely safe in moderate amounts, though some sources suggest going easy on it in the first trimester. Crisp and cooling, it's a lovely after-dinner option. Try our Pacific Coast Mint when heartburn strikes.

Lemon balm

Lemon balm has a soft, lemony character and a calming reputation. It's been used to ease irritability, anxiety, and trouble sleeping, which can be a quiet struggle in pregnancy, and it's generally regarded as likely safe in tea-sized amounts. You'll find it woven into our Rejuvenating Tea Bundle, built around herbs that help you wind down.

Moderation is the whole game. Even a "safe" tea is still a dose of something, so one or two cups beats drinking it all day.

Red raspberry leaf tea: helpful, but timing matters

Red raspberry leaf tea gets talked about more than almost any other pregnancy tea, and it deserves its own section because the timing is what makes or breaks it. It's brewed from the leaves of the raspberry plant, not the fruit, it's naturally caffeine-free, and it's long been used as a uterine tonic said to tone the uterus and help prepare the body for labor.

Here's the catch. Because it may encourage uterine contractions, most providers recommend skipping it in the first trimester. The common guidance is to start in the third trimester, often around 32 weeks, beginning with a single cup and watching how you feel. The evidence is genuinely mixed: one study found it shortened the pushing stage of labor by about ten minutes, but the research is limited and far from conclusive.

Teas and herbs to avoid during pregnancy

Some herbs have been linked to a higher risk of miscarriage or preterm labor, or simply lack the safety data to feel comfortable about. Many are fine as a pinch of seasoning in cooking but become a concern in the concentrated, daily form of a medicinal tea. When in doubt, leave these off your list until after you've delivered and finished breastfeeding.

Blends are where people get caught out. A cozy-sounding "sleepy" or "wellness" blend can hide several herbs at once, and a tea that's mostly safe might still include something like valerian, which has limited pregnancy data. Read every ingredient on the label, not just the name on the front. Our guide to botanicals and herbal tea ingredients is a handy reference when you're decoding a label.

How to brew and enjoy tea safely

How you make your tea matters almost as much as which tea you choose. Brew herbal teas with fully boiling water and steep for three to five minutes. The heat pulls out the flavor and beneficial compounds, and it kills any bacteria that natural plant material can occasionally carry. For that reason, skip sun tea, since the water never gets hot enough to be safe.

Keep your intake moderate, around one to two cups of any herbal tea a day, and rotate your choices instead of hammering the same herb morning to night. If you want to sweeten things, honey is fine for pregnant adults, since the infant botulism warning only applies to babies under one year old. A squeeze of lemon in hot water is another easy, worry-free option.

A simple tea routine, trimester by trimester

Your needs shift as pregnancy moves along, and so can your tea. Think of this as a loose map rather than a prescription, and adjust with your provider. Here's how a pregnancy tea routine often takes shape:

Stage	What it helps with	Teas to reach for
First trimester	Nausea, morning sickness	Ginger; small amounts of peppermint
Second trimester	Digestion, calm, sleep	Peppermint, lemon balm, ginger
Third trimester	Labor prep (with provider okay)	The above, plus red raspberry leaf

If queasiness is your main companion early on, our deep dive on French Lemon Ginger is worth a read. As you settle into the middle months, a small rotation of caffeine-free favorites keeps tea time interesting without any second-guessing.

Frequently asked questions

This article is for general information and isn't medical advice. Every pregnancy is different, so please talk with your OB-GYN or midwife before changing what you eat or drink. Have a question about a specific blend? Feel free to contact Art of Tea and we're happy to help.