Are Probiotic Supplements Safe During Pregnancy?

Probiotics — those friendly bacteria found in the gut — may be beneficial for aiding digestion and preventing some illnesses, leading some expectant mothers to wonder whether probiotic supplements are safe to take during pregnancy.

While probiotics are found in fermented foods such as yogurt, in the United States, most are sold as dietary supplements, according to Harvard Medical Center.

The American Pregnancy Association said probiotics are "probably safe during pregnancy," but the vast array of bacteria and limited research leave room for uncertainty.

The use of probiotics hasn't been linked to miscarriages, malformations or other complications in pregnancy or birth, and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) concluded that probiotics don't appear to pose a risk to pregnant or breastfeeding mothers, according to the American Pregnancy Association.

Probiotics are thought to help with diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, bacterial vaginosis, and eczema.

The Food and Drug Administration doesn't regulate supplements, but allows most probiotic supplements to be recognized as safe, NBC News reported.

In an article for Parenting magazine, Dr. William Sears advised a reader who said she had been taking one probiotic capsule a day for about a year to prevent yeast infections that it was "quite safe" to continue taking probiotics during pregnancy.

Still, there is not enough evidence to say whether probiotics are safe or effective, researchers in France said in a study released in July, according to NBC News.

“We have way more questions that we have answers,” Dr. Shira Doron of the Tufts University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the French team’s study, told NBC News. “They have never been proven to be good for general health.”

• Probiotic Benefits: 20 Ways They Help More Than Your Stomach
• 7 Foods That Keep Probiotics From Doing Their Jobs