Pregnancy, breastfeeding and fertility while taking doxycycline

Doxycycline and pregnancy

Doxycycline is not recommended during pregnancy. It can affect tooth and bone development in your baby. Talk to your doctor about taking a different antibiotic.

Doxycycline and breastfeeding

If your doctor or health visitor says your baby is healthy, you can take doxycycline for a short time (less than 3 weeks) while breastfeeding.

Doxycycline passes into breast milk in fairly small amounts. However, the calcium in your milk sticks to the doxycycline so the baby cannot absorb very much.

When used for a short time, doxycycline is unlikely to cause side effects in your baby. When used for longer, there is a small chance that it can affect teeth and bone development. However, this has only happened when babies have been given doxycycline directly. It has not happened when babies have doxycycline through breast milk.

If you need to take doxycycline for longer than a few weeks, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.

If your baby is not feeding as well as usual, has a rash, has stomach upset, or has oral thrush (a fungal infection in their mouth), or if you have any other concerns about your baby, talk to your doctor, pharmacist, health visitor or midwife.

Doxycycline and fertility

There's no clear evidence to suggest that taking doxycycline reduces fertility in either men or women.

Speak to a pharmacist or your doctor if you're trying to get pregnant, as doxycycline is not recommended in pregnancy and other treatments may be more suitable.

Find out more about how taking doxycycline can affect you and your baby on the Best Use of Medicines in Pregnancy (BUMPS) website.