Clary Sage Oil in Pregnancy: What the Sources Say

We do not call clary sage oil safe or unsafe in pregnancy, because that is a judgment for your OB-GYN or midwife, not a shop. What we can report is our own product copy, which says to avoid it during pregnancy, and what the published sources say, which is a disagreement about timing and almost no human data. This page lays both out and ends with a list of questions to take to your provider.

Clary Sage Essential Oil

Our own Clary Sage Essential Oil, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.

From $19.99

Shop Now →

Do the authorities agree? No, and the gap is about timing

Two sources we could open say different things.

• Tisserand Aromatherapy, a company that sells essential oils (not the separate Tisserand Institute), lists clary sage as "not recommended during pregnancy or while breastfeeding" in its FAQ (Tisserand Aromatherapy FAQ). Its pregnancy guidance adds a blanket rule to "avoid using essential oils entirely during the first trimester," a 1% ceiling for topical blends after that, and names clary sage on its list of oils to avoid, giving the reason that such oils "may stimulate uterine activity, raise blood pressure, act too strongly on the body" (Tisserand Aromatherapy, pregnancy article). That reason is given for the whole list, not for clary sage specifically, and the page cites no trial.
• North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, in England, runs an aromatherapy service for women booked to deliver there and states: "Clary sage is contraindicated in pregnancy until after 37 weeks gestation" (North Tees maternity service page). Read the other way, that sentence says the trust's trained midwives treat clary sage differently once a woman is at term. It is one trust's service page, not national policy, and we did not find an ACOG statement on clary sage that we could open.

So one source says avoid throughout and another draws the line at 37 weeks. We cannot adjudicate that, and neither can a product page. What both have in common is the instruction to involve a trained person. This is consistent with our own /our-oil/ page, which says "Avoid it during pregnancy." That is our product guidance, not a medical position, and we have no clinician on staff.

Weigh the two differently. The first is a retailer's list written for the general public, with no cited trial. The second is a hospital service operating under clinical supervision, which is a stronger kind of source for practice but a narrower one: it describes what that trust does, not what is proven. Neither is a randomised trial of harm or of safety.

Where the "stimulates the uterus" idea comes from, and what has been measured

The traditional claim is that clary sage is an emmenagogue (something that brings on menstrual flow or uterine activity). We did not find a controlled human study from early pregnancy to support it, and none that excludes it. The human work we found was done at term and is small.

• In a 2017 pilot from Japan, 11 low-risk women at 38 to 40 weeks (5 clary sage, 6 control, not randomised) breathed clary sage oil diluted 50-fold in propylene glycol for 20 minutes through an air pump held 10 cm from the nose. Salivary oxytocin did not change significantly, it was measurable at every time point in only 7 of the 11 women, no uterine contractions were recorded in either group, and no adverse events were observed (Tadokoro et al., BMC Research Notes, 2017). The authors call it a feasibility study: it shows the method works, not that the oil does anything.
• A 2023 follow-up from the same group used a footbath infused with clary sage and lavender oils in 82 women at term (28 in that group, 27 jasmine, 27 control), non-randomised. Oxytocin rose within the clary sage and lavender group (p = 0.035) but the difference from the control group was not significant, and uterine contractions did not differ (Tadokoro et al., Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2023). Because two oils were combined, the result cannot be assigned to clary sage alone.
• A third study is registered but unfinished as far as the public record shows: NCT05000424, run by the Nutraceuticals Research Institute, randomised 50 women (estimated) to a massage oil with or without clary sage oil on the upper thighs through the third trimester, with salivary estriol and quality-of-life scores as primary outcomes. Its status is listed as unknown, last updated May 2022, with no results posted (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05000424).

None of these studies used our oils, and all three were on women near term, which is exactly the window where the two sources above diverge. Nothing here speaks to the first trimester. The honest summary is that the absence of a reported contraction in 11 women for 20 minutes is not a safety finding.

Inhalation versus skin versus a bath

The sources do not separate these cleanly. Tisserand Aromatherapy's 1% ceiling applies to skin blends, and its advice to avoid oils in the first trimester is not limited to a route. The Japanese studies used inhalation and a footbath. Reasoning from that, a diffuser running in the room and a diluted oil massaged into the skin are different exposures, but no source we opened ranks them for clary sage, so "it is only a diffuser" is not a loophole we can offer. Sold undiluted, our oils leave the maths to you; if your provider approves a use, ask them for the exact percentage in writing rather than working it out yourself.

Questions to bring to your OB-GYN, midwife or pharmacist

1. We are at ___ weeks. Is any essential oil acceptable for me now, and does the answer change after 37 weeks?
2. Do I have anything in my history that makes you advise against aromatherapy altogether? The North Tees page lists heart disease, epilepsy, recurrent bleeding and a history of premature labour as reasons not to use it.
3. If I use it in a diffuser, is the concern the same as with skin application?
4. Can the aromatherapy-trained midwife, if there is one, see the specific oil and its label?
5. If I am breastfeeding afterwards, how long should I wait, and does the 1% figure apply?
6. Does anything we take (blood pressure medication, sedatives, supplements) interact with an aroma we would be breathing for hours?

What we would not do

We would not use a clary sage oil from our shop, or anyone's, to try to bring on labour. That is a medical decision with its own protocols, and the 2017 and 2023 studies above did not test labour induction. For that topic see clary sage oil and labour; for the later months, breastfeeding. The general side-effect picture, including skin sensitisation, is in our side effects article.

If you are pregnant and curious, the better first step is a phone call to whoever is delivering your baby. Our oils are sold for ordinary aroma and diluted skin use, and we make no health claims.

Clary Sage Essential Oil

Clary Sage Essential Oil from our own shop, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.

From $19.99

Shop Now →

Sources & Further Reading

• Tisserand Aromatherapy, undated. Frequently asked questions. tisserand.com/frequently-asked-questions
• Tisserand Aromatherapy, undated. Essential oils in pregnancy and early motherhood. tisserand.com/blogs/all-blog-articles
• North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, undated. Serenity aromatherapy. nth.nhs.uk/serenity-aromatherapy
• Tadokoro Y et al., 2017. Changes in salivary oxytocin after inhalation of clary sage essential oil scent in term-pregnant women: a feasibility pilot study. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29216912
• Tadokoro Y et al., 2023. Changes in salivary oxytocin level of term pregnant women after aromatherapy footbath for spontaneous labor onset. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37444109
• Nutraceuticals Research Institute, 2021. Clary sage essential oil inhalation and third trimester quality of life (NCT05000424). clinicaltrials.gov/NCT05000424