What to Drink During Pregnancy: The Complete Guide

“What can I actually drink?” is one of the most common pregnancy questions, mostly because the honest answer is genuinely varied — some drinks need a daily limit, some are fine in any amount, a handful should be avoided altogether, and herbal teas in particular vary a lot from one to the next. Here’s the full picture in one place.

The best default: water

Plain water is the single best drink throughout pregnancy. Staying well hydrated supports increased blood volume, helps prevent constipation and UTIs (both more common in pregnancy), and has no caveats or limits attached. If plain water feels boring, sparkling water is just as good — the carbonation itself carries no risk — and adding a slice of lemon, cucumber, or a splash of fruit juice is a simple way to make it more appealing.

Caffeine: limit, don’t eliminate

Caffeine doesn’t need to be cut out entirely, but it should be limited to no more than 200mg a day — roughly one mug of filter coffee, or two cups of tea. High caffeine intake in pregnancy is linked to lower birth weight, so staying under this limit matters more than avoiding caffeine altogether. This covers coffee, tea, green tea, hot chocolate (which contains caffeine from cocoa), and caffeinated soft drinks. Decaf coffee and tea are good ways to enjoy the ritual without counting toward your daily limit — decaffeination doesn’t remove caffeine entirely, but the amount remaining is small enough that decaf drinks are generally not counted.

Alcohol: avoid entirely

Alcohol should be avoided completely throughout pregnancy. There is no known safe level of alcohol consumption in pregnancy, which is why UK and international guidance consistently recommends abstaining altogether rather than setting a “safe” limit. If you’re missing the ritual of an evening drink, alcohol-free beer, wine, and cider and a wide range of mocktails are good substitutes — check alcohol-free labelling carefully, as some “alcohol-free” products still contain a very small amount (typically under 0.5%), which is generally considered fine in pregnancy but worth being aware of if you want to avoid alcohol completely.

Herbal teas: check each one individually

This is the category where blanket advice breaks down fastest — herbal teas range from genuinely beneficial to actively discouraged, and there’s no single rule that covers all of them.

Generally considered safe in normal amounts: peppermint tea, rooibos (red bush) tea, and nettle tea.

Fine in moderation, with more specific guidance: chamomile tea, green tea (counts toward your caffeine limit), herbal teas generally, kombucha (check pasteurisation), and linden (lime blossom) tea.

A special case, not for general drinking: raspberry leaf tea is traditionally used in the final weeks of pregnancy specifically, not throughout — check the dedicated page before trying it.

Best avoided: hibiscus tea and sage tea are generally advised against during pregnancy.

Juices and other everyday drinks

Fruit juice and smoothies are safe in moderation — they’re a good source of vitamins, but also concentrated in natural sugar, so a small glass rather than unlimited quantities is the sensible approach. Tonic water is safe; the quinine content in standard tonic water is far too low to be a concern at normal consumption levels. Ginger ale is safe and can be genuinely helpful for nausea, thanks to ginger’s well-documented anti-nausea effect.

What to avoid entirely

Energy drinks should be avoided — they typically combine very high caffeine with other stimulants and ingredients not well studied in pregnancy. Beyond that, the main things to avoid entirely rather than just limit are alcohol, hibiscus tea, and sage tea, as covered above.

The simple version

If you want one sentence to remember: drink plenty of water, keep caffeine under 200mg a day, skip alcohol entirely, and check any herbal tea individually rather than assuming “herbal” automatically means “safe.”