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Can you take Amikacin Injection while pregnant?

Updated Sep 7, 20262 min readAnswer
On this pageShort answer Taking Amikacin Injection while pregnant: what to do Common questions Related questions Sources
Short answer

Usually no, amikacin injection is avoided in pregnancy and reserved for serious infections when no safer antibiotic will work.

Amikacin is an aminoglycoside, and drugs in this class cross the placenta and have been linked to permanent hearing and balance nerve damage in the developing baby. Many common infections in pregnancy can be treated with antibiotics that have a longer safety record, so the first step is asking whether one of those fits your infection. When amikacin is genuinely needed, such as for a resistant gram-negative infection or drug-resistant tuberculosis, your care team uses the lowest effective dose for the shortest time and checks blood levels and kidney function. Tell every prescriber that you are pregnant or could be before your first dose, and keep your obstetric team in the loop. Never stop a prescribed course on your own, because a partly treated serious infection carries its own risk to you and the pregnancy.

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Taking Amikacin Injection while pregnant: what to do

1Say you are pregnant:Tell the prescriber, pharmacist, and nurse your pregnancy status and how many weeks along you are before the first dose.
2Ask about alternatives:Ask directly whether a different antibiotic with a longer pregnancy safety record can treat your specific infection.
3Expect monitoring:Amikacin usually comes with blood level checks and kidney function tests, so ask when yours are scheduled.
4Report warning signs:Call your care team about new ringing in the ears, hearing changes, dizziness, or a big drop in urine output.
5Finish the course:If amikacin is the right choice for a serious infection, stopping early can leave the infection active and harm you both.
6Loop in your OB:Make sure the team treating the infection and the team managing your pregnancy have each other's notes.

Common questions

Can you take Amikacin Injection while pregnant?

Amikacin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic that crosses the placenta, and this class has been linked to permanent hearing and balance nerve damage in the baby. For that reason it is usually avoided in pregnancy and reserved for serious infections where safer antibiotics will not work, such as resistant gram-negative bloodstream infections or drug-resistant tuberculosis. If your doctor recommends it, they are weighing the danger of the untreated infection against that risk, and they will use the shortest effective course with blood level checks and kidney function monitoring. Tell any prescriber you are pregnant or might be before the first dose, and do not stop a started course on your own.

About this page. Written and maintained by the Pymander Health team. Last updated September 7, 2026.

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