This sheet is about exposure to famotidine in a pregnancy and while breastfeeding. This information should not take the place of medical care and advice from your healthcare provider.
What is famotidine?
Famotidine is a medication used to treat acid reflux, sometimes called heartburn or peptic ulcer disease. Famotidine reduces the amount of stomach acid that your body makes. It is a long-acting histamine (H2) receptor blocker and is sold under the brand names Pepcid®, Pepcid AC®, and Heartburn Relief®.
I just found out I am pregnant. Should I stop taking famotidine?
Talk with your healthcare providers before making any changes to how you take your medication(s). It is important to consider the potential benefits of treating your condition during pregnancy.
I take famotidine. Can it make it harder for me to get pregnant?
It is not known if taking famotidine could make it harder to become pregnant.
Does taking famotidine during my pregnancy increase the chance of miscarriage?
Miscarriage can occur in any pregnancy. It is not known if famotidine could increase the chance for miscarriage.
Does taking famotidine increase the chance of having a baby with a birth defect?
Every pregnancy starts out with a 3-5% chance of having a birth defect. This is called the background risk. Available studies do not show an increased chance of birth defects or other pregnancy problems when famotidine is taken during pregnancy.
Could taking famotidine cause other pregnancy complications?
It is not known if taking famotidine during pregnancy increases the chance of pregnancy complications.
Will taking famotidine during pregnancy affect my baby’s behavior or cause learning problems?
It is not known if taking famotidine during pregnancy affects children’s long-term development.
Can I breastfeed while taking famotidine?
Famotidine is found in the breast milk in small amounts and is used in newborn infants in higher dosages than the levels that have been found in breastmilk. Taking famotidine while breastfeeding is not expected to cause problems in breastfed infants. Be sure to talk to your healthcare provider about all your breastfeeding questions.
I take famotidine. Can it make it harder for me to get my partner pregnant or increase the chance of birth defects?
It is not known if there are possible risks to a pregnancy from semen exposed to famotidine. After any exposure, substances might be present in small amounts in semen. However, in most cases, those small amounts would not increase the chance of birth defects. For more information, please see the MotherToBaby fact sheet Paternal Exposures at https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/paternal-exposures-pregnancy/.
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OTIS/MotherToBaby recognizes that not all people identify as “men” or “women.” When using the term “mother,” we mean the source of the egg and/or uterus and by “father,” we mean the source of the sperm, regardless of the person’s gender identity.
