Is Vaping Safe in Pregnancy or While Breastfeeding?

Health Canada does not describe vaping as safe in pregnancy. Its “Risks of vaping” page says that while vaping products contain fewer harmful chemicals than cigarettes, they expose you and your fetus to chemicals, including nicotine, that have health risks. For anyone pregnant, or breastfeeding or chestfeeding, the department’s advice is to talk to a health care provider about quitting.

What does Health Canada say about vaping during pregnancy?

The department’s statement has two halves, and both matter. First, the comparison: vaping products contain fewer harmful chemicals than cigarettes. Second, the exposure: you and your fetus still take in nicotine and other chemicals that carry health risks. The first half is not a recommendation to switch from smoking to vaping while pregnant; the page ends the section with an instruction to speak to a provider about quitting vaping.

Health Canada’s wider account of nicotine helps explain the caution. Vaping with nicotine can cause physical dependence and addiction. The department also says nicotine itself is not known to cause cancer or respiratory or vascular disease, and separately warns that vaping may cause lung damage through chemicals in the aerosol such as formaldehyde and acrolein. The pregnancy section does not break down specific effects on the baby, and we have not added any that Health Canada does not state.

What about breastfeeding or chestfeeding?

The same sentence covers it. Health Canada tells people to talk to their health care provider about options for quitting vaping during pregnancy “and while breastfeeding or chestfeeding.” The page gives no separate figures or rules for breast milk, so there is nothing more official to quote. A provider who knows your history is the right person for questions about timing, medication or a feeding plan.

What if I smoke or use both?

The pregnancy statement is about vaping products specifically, and it does not turn a switch from smoking to vaping into a recommendation. If you are pregnant and you smoke, vape or do both, the practical step is the same: raise it with your provider early, and let them go through the options with you.

Where can I get help quitting?

• A family doctor, midwife, nurse practitioner or pharmacist can start the conversation and point you to local supports.
• Our guide to how to quit vaping covers the wider picture on quitting.
• If you have tried before and relapsed, say so; it is useful information for the person helping you.

For the wider evidence on benefits and harms, see e-cigarettes: risks and benefits and what is in vape aerosol. Nicotine pouches carry nicotine too; the rules are in nicotine pouches in Canada.