Lemon Oil in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding: What Sources Say
Whether to use lemon essential oil during pregnancy or while breastfeeding is a decision for a midwife or obstetrician who knows the pregnancy, not for a shop. What a seller can do is report what the published sources cover, what they leave out, and which numbers apply to cold-pressed lemon oil on skin. This article does that, and it stops where the clinical judgment starts.
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Shop Now →What the sources cover, and what they do not
The material splits into four kinds of source, and only one of them mentions lemon by name in a pregnant population.
| Source | What it covers | What it does not |
|---|---|---|
| MotherToBaby (Colón, 2016) | Essential oils in general: "Information is limited" and "For many products, there is no information at all"; skin use "usually does not lead to large absorption" | Does not mention lemon or citrus; does not address inhaled use |
| Tisserand Institute safety guidelines (undated) | People who are pregnant, or have a skin condition, epilepsy or asthma, are advised to see a doctor or suitable practitioner before using essential oils | No pregnancy percentage for lemon; breastfeeding not addressed on that page |
| Yavari Kia et al., 2014 | One randomised trial of inhaled lemon oil in 100 pregnant women with nausea and vomiting | Four days of follow-up; not a safety study; not cold-pressed oil as described |
| IFRA Standard on lemon oil cold pressed | A 2.0% ceiling for skin products, set because the oil is phototoxic | The page states no pregnancy-specific figure |
The search for this article found no obstetric authority page giving a lemon-specific instruction for pregnancy or breastfeeding. The pages that were read speak about essential oils as a group and send the reader to a clinician. That is the position this article takes too.
The one trial that names lemon
The Yavari Kia trial (2014), published in the Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, randomised 100 women at 6 to 16 weeks of pregnancy (50 per group) who scored 3 to 12 on the PUQE-24 nausea questionnaire. When nauseated, each woman put two drops of the study liquid on a cotton pad held about 3 cm from the nose and took three deep breaths, repeating once after five minutes if needed, for four days. The control liquid was almond oil coloured with carrot.
Reported results: the groups differed on day 2 (P = 0.017) and day 4 (P = 0.039), but not on day 1 (P = 0.36) or day 3 (P = 0.073). Both groups improved over the four days, and no adverse effects were reported. The authors concluded that lemon scent can be effective in reducing nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, and they noted that the control group's improvement could reflect a placebo effect.
Three details matter before anyone reads this as guidance:
- The paper describes the oil as made from lemon peel by "solvent distillation" in an almond oil carrier, and does not describe it as cold-pressed. Cold-pressed oil, the kind we sell, is a different material (it carries the furocoumarins that distillation largely leaves behind). Applying the trial to cold-pressed oil is an inference.
- The control had no lemon scent, so a woman could probably tell which group she was in. The Cochrane review of nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy (2015; 41 trials, 5,449 women) rated this trial's risk of performance bias as unclear for that reason, and concluded that there is a lack of high-quality evidence to support any particular intervention.
- It tested sniffing, for four days, at weeks 6 to 16 only. It says nothing about skin application, longer use, or the third trimester.
A single trial of 100 women is a reason to ask a clinician, not a recommendation. We do not sell a nausea product and make no claim for our oil on that subject; the nausea research article goes through the same trial in more depth.
When nausea means call someone
The NHS page on vomiting and morning sickness (last reviewed 17 April 2024) says to contact a midwife, GP or 111 if vomiting comes with very dark urine or no urine for more than 8 hours, inability to keep food or fluids down for 24 hours, or feeling very weak, dizzy or faint on standing. It also lists abdominal pain, fever, blood in the vomit and weight loss. It describes hyperemesis gravidarum as a severe form that can cause dehydration and may need hospital care. Nothing in an aroma routine replaces that call. For the complementary options the NHS does mention on that page (ginger, wrist pressure), it advises checking with a pharmacist.
Route matters: skin, air, mouth
Skin. MotherToBaby says topical use usually does not lead to large absorption, and lists what raises it: constant use, broken or diseased skin, and use over large areas. Cold-pressed lemon oil adds a separate problem that has nothing to do with pregnancy: it is phototoxic. The IFRA Standard (2020, Amendment 49, carried in the 51st Amendment compilation) caps it at 2.0% in the finished product for Categories 1 to 6, 7B, 8, 10B and 11B, which includes body lotion, face moisturiser, hand cream and baby products, because of phototoxic effects. It states no restriction for rinse-off hair and body products or non-skin-contact products (Categories 7A, 9, 10A, 11A, 12). The Tisserand Institute dilution chart likewise says lemon oil should be used at no more than 2% to avoid phototoxicity, and its phototoxicity article advises keeping the treated area out of UV light for at least 12 hours after a phototoxic amount.
Our own copy says to dilute to 0.5% to 2% in a carrier oil (roughly 3 to 12 drops per ounce of carrier), patch test first, and avoid sun on freshly applied areas. The top of that range equals the IFRA and Tisserand ceiling, so neither authority is lower than our copy. Equal is not a reason to stand at the ceiling. Neither source gives a pregnancy figure, and where a clinician advises less, or none, follow that.
The arithmetic, for anyone told a specific percentage by their midwife: 1 oz of carrier is 29.57 ml, so 1% is about 0.3 ml of oil, about 6 drops at roughly 20 drops per ml (droppers vary; weigh when it matters). By weight, 100 g of finished blend at 1% holds 1 g of oil, which is 1.18 ml at our batch density of 0.849 g/ml. The ceiling is for the whole finished product, and it is shared: IFRA requires the furocoumarin-containing citrus oils in a product (it lists bergamot, grapefruit, lime, bitter orange and lemon, among others) to add up to no more than 100% of their individual limits. Lemon at 2.0% uses all of it.
Inhaled. The sources read for this article do not give a diffusion schedule for pregnancy, and we do not publish one. Ask the clinician about duration and room ventilation, and keep the bottle away from children and pets, as our copy says.
Swallowed. Our oil is labelled do not take internally. If anyone swallows an essential oil, the National Capital Poison Center says to use its web tool or call 1-800-222-1222 (US).
An old bottle is a skin question too
The IFRA Standard on limonene says oxidation products of limonene, especially hydroperoxides, are potent sensitisers, and that natural products rich in it should be kept at a peroxide value below 20 millimoles per litre. Our oil is sold neat, and the published certificate of analysis does not report a peroxide value, so a buyer cannot read one from it. Keep the cap on, keep it cool and dark, and if the oil has gone cloudy or smells flat or sharp, stop using it on skin.
What would settle it
Take the bottle, the percentage you plan to use, and the route to your midwife or obstetrician, along with any condition such as asthma or eczema. If you want the broader skin rules, the safety basics and the FAQ cover dilution and storage, and the pet article covers the household. FDA decides whether a product is a cosmetic or a drug by its intended use, so we describe our oil only as an aroma material and make no medical claim for it.
If the answer from your clinician is no, or not yet, that is a complete answer, and the bottle keeps for later.
Organic Lemon Essential Oil
Organic Lemon Essential Oil from our own shop, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.
From $15.99
Shop Now →Sources & Further Reading
- Yavari Kia P, Safajou F, Shahnazi M, Nazemiyeh H, 2014. The Effect of Lemon Inhalation Aromatherapy on Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy: A Double-Blinded, Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial. Iran Red Crescent Med J 16(3):e14360. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PMC4005434
- Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2015. Interventions for nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy (CD007575.pub4). pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PMC7196889
- NHS, reviewed 17 April 2024. Vomiting and morning sickness. nhs.uk/pregnancy
- MotherToBaby (Colón C), 2016. A Slippery Topic: The Use of Essential Oils during Pregnancy. mothertobaby.org
- Tisserand Institute, undated. Safety Guidelines. tisserandinstitute.org/safety-guidelines
- Tisserand Institute, undated. Essential Oil Dilution Chart; Phototoxicity: essential oils, sun and safety (R. Tisserand). tisserandinstitute.org/essential-oil-dilution-chart and phototoxicity-essential-oils-sun-and-safety
- IFRA, 2023. IFRA Standards, 51st Amendment (Lemon oil cold pressed, 2020; Citrus oils and furocoumarins; Limonene). ifrafragrance.org/51st-amendment
- IFRA, 2023. Guidance for the use of IFRA Standards, 51st Amendment (category definitions). ifrafragrance.org/51st-amendment guidance
- FDA, 2024. Is It a Cosmetic, a Drug, or Both? (Or Is It Soap?). fda.gov/cosmetics
- National Capital Poison Center. Essential oils: Poisonous when misused. poison.org/articles/essential-oils