Vitamin C

Is vitamin C safe in pregnancy?

Updated 3 Nov 2026

Short answer

Pregnant women need 85 mg a day (80 mg at 14 to 18 years), and the US upper limit in pregnancy is 2,000 mg a day (1,800 mg at 14 to 18 years).[1] A 2015 Cochrane review pooled 29 trials of vitamin C, alone or with other supplements, in 24,300 women.[2] It found no clear effect on stillbirth, preterm birth, the growth of the baby or pre-eclampsia.[2] It found no convincing evidence of other important benefits or harms; in one trial, women on vitamin C reported more abdominal pain.[2]

Sources (2)

  1. Vitamin C: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. ods.od.nih.gov
  2. Vitamin C supplementation in pregnancy. Rumbold A, Ota E, Nagata C, Shahrook S, Crowther CA Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2015. PMID 26415762

More about vitamin c

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For education; not medical advice. Talk to a doctor before you start, stop or change a supplement.