Pregnancy, breastfeeding and fertility while taking ezetimibe

Ezetimibe is not usually recommended during pregnancy. This is because there's very little information about its safety. However, it may be prescribed by specialists if you have very high cholesterol and are pregnant.

If you're planning a pregnancy or are currently pregnant and taking ezetimibe, talk to your doctor about treatment. They may want you to continue taking ezetimibe or change you to another medicine.

You may be OK to take ezetimibe while breastfeeding but if not, your doctor or pharmacist may tell you to stop taking it until you're no longer breastfeeding. It's not yet known how much ezetimibe gets into breast milk, but it's likely to be a small amount. It's unlikely to cause any side effects in your baby, or affect their cholesterol.

Talk to your health visitor, midwife, doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you have any concerns about your baby. This includes:

• not feeding as well as usual
• not putting on weight as you would expect

There's no evidence to suggest that taking ezetimibe affects fertility in either men or women.

Tell your doctor if you're:

• trying to get pregnant
• pregnant
• breastfeeding