In case you are thinking about melatonin and pregnancy you should know that in natural circumstances this is a hormone that is produced by the brain.
The darkness increases the hormone production while light decreases it, so we can say that its functions are regulatory. Is Melatonin safe during pregnancy?
Information about synthetic melatonin
Synthetic melatonin can be used for various reasons, but in the majority of the cases people use it when they have sleeping problems.
In the same time it is good to know that it also has antioxidant properties, so it also has some therapeutic effects.
Safety
As it has been mentioned before, melatonin is in fact a hormone and because of this it should be avoided by pregnant women or by women who are planning on getting pregnant in the near future.If the person in question has high levels of melatonin in her system during pregnancy, it could lead to developmental disorders of the baby.
There have been some animal studies conducted regarding taking melatonin during pregnancy and these have revealed that in case of the animals the hormone could also be found in the breast milk and because of this the breastfeeding mothers should also avoid using medication of this kind.
The hormone also affects men. In their case the effects of the hormone include decreased sperm motility and it has also been reported that they could have a decreased sperm count in the same time because of the hormone. Remember that this is a hormone that isn’t related to the sex of the people taking it, so it could affect both genders.
Bottom line, we have to remember not to take melatonin-based products during pregnancy or in the postpartum period because it could affect the baby and in case of men it could have an effect on fertility.
