Is it safe to eat grapes during pregnancy?

Yes, as far as the evidence goes, and that evidence is all observational. We found no randomized trial of whole grapes in pregnant women and no study that showed harm from eating them. In one Chinese cohort of 1,453 pregnant women, found that those eating the most grapes in early pregnancy had 35 percent lower risk of gestational diabetes (95% CI 0.43 to 0.98). A second Chinese study of 2,987 women found the opposite direction.

Unsettled. The two Chinese studies point in opposite directions and neither is a trial. In the first, the interval nearly reaches no effect, and the trend lost significance once anthocyanins, the grape pigments, were accounted for. The second reported only that more grapes went with more gestational diabetes, without saying by how much. Neither can tell you whether grapes change your risk.

What the trials found

There are no trials of grapes as food in pregnancy. The one synthesis of randomized trials, a 2025 meta-analysis of 14 trials of polyphenol supplements in pregnancy, includes a single trial of resveratrol, a compound found in grapes. In 349 women with preeclampsia, adding resveratrol to the blood pressure drug nifedipine brought blood pressure under control 15.5 minutes sooner (95% CI 11.17 to 19.83). It also lengthened the time to the next hypertensive crisis by 2.5 hours. The reviewers rated this low certainty and call the evidence on clinical and adverse effects limited.

For grapes as food, a meta-analysis of 5 cohort studies found no link between fruit eaten during pregnancy and gestational diabetes (RR 1.18, 95% CI 0.48 to 2.91), with very high disagreement between the studies. Fruit eaten before pregnancy was tied to 5 percent lower risk (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.91 to 0.99). The authors ask readers to treat both results with great caution.

Raisins are dried grapes. In 18,888 Norwegian pregnant women, eating raisins was linked to 29 percent lower odds of the waters breaking early, before labor and before term (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.92). This is one observational cohort, and fresh grapes were not studied.

Who should be careful

The caution in this evidence concerns supplements. In pregnant monkeys fed a Western-style diet with resveratrol added throughout pregnancy, the fetal pancreas was 42 percent larger, with 12 times more cell division. The study title calls its outcomes beneficial and cautionary. The resveratrol was mixed into the feed as a supplement, 0.37 percent of the diet, not given as grapes, and these are animal data.

Not for everyone. Resveratrol capsules and grape extracts are a different thing from grapes. The only animal study of resveratrol through pregnancy raised a concern about the fetal pancreas, and no trial has shown a supplement to be safe for a healthy pregnancy.

Two cohorts looked at produce with high pesticide residues, a group that includes grapes. In Project Viva, 1,777 US mothers who ate more high-residue fruit and vegetables in pregnancy did not have more small, large or preterm babies. In 325 women going through IVF, those eating 2.3 or more servings a day of high-residue produce before conception had 26 percent lower probability of a live birth than those eating less than 1 serving (95% CI 13% to 37%). Those were fertility patients, grapes were one item among many, and washing or choosing organic was not tested. The cards give no absolute rates for either study.

What expert bodies say

We found no expert body with a statement specific to grapes in pregnancy. We did not make a card for general advice on washing produce, so it is not quoted here.

How we searched

What would change this answer

• GRAPE-GDM (NCT07323901), a registered trial using grape juice as the drink in the gestational diabetes screening test, enrolling from 2025 with primary completion expected in 2027. It tests a screening method, not whether grapes affect risk.
• A cohort that reports fresh grape intake with an effect size for gestational diabetes and settles which Chinese study was right.
• Any randomized trial of whole grapes in pregnancy.

More on grapes themselves: Grapes.

Sources

1. ev-grpg-01 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials · n = 349
   Similarly, the addition of resveratrol to nifedipine may reduce the time needed to achieve blood pressure control (MD = -15.50 min, 95% CI -19.83 to -11.17) and increase the time to the next hypertensive crisis (MD = 2.50 h, 95% CI 2.09 to 2.91) (1 trial, 349 women; low certainty).
   
   Who: pregnant women in randomized trials of polyphenol extracts or supplements; resveratrol plus nifedipine in women with preeclampsia
   Effect: time to blood pressure control MD -15.50 min (95% CI -19.83 to -11.17); time to next hypertensive crisis +2.50 h (2.09 to 2.91); low certainty
   Certainty: Supplement doses, not grapes as food; one trial for resveratrol; authors call evidence on clinical and adverse effects limited and uncertain.
   BJOG, 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
2. ev-grpg-02 · Observational data · prospective cohort · n = 1453
   A higher grape intake had a linear inverse association with GDM risk (Q4 v. Q1: RR = 0·65; 95 % CI 0·43, 0·98; Ptrend = 0·044), and after further adjustment for anthocyanin intake, the inverse association tended to be non-linear (Q4 v. Q1: RR = 0·65; 95 % CI 0·44, 0·98; Ptrend = 0·079).
   
   Who: healthy pregnant women in Southwest China, 2017, 3-day 24-h recall, OGTT at 24-28 weeks
   Effect: GDM RR 0.65 (95% CI 0.43 to 0.98), Q4 vs Q1 of grape intake; total fruit RR 1.03 (0.83 to 1.27)
   Certainty: Single cohort, borderline interval; trend lost significance after adjusting for anthocyanins.
   Public Health Nutr, 2021 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
3. ev-grpg-03 · Observational data · observational study · n = 2987
   Quantity of grape, melon, potatoes and fruit juice consumption were positively associated with the incidence of GDM.
   
   Who: pregnant women in China, June 2013 to June 2014, intake at weeks 13-28
   Effect: positive association between grape quantity and GDM incidence; 405 (13.6%) GDM cases; no risk ratio for grapes given in the abstract
   Certainty: Size of the grape association not reported in the abstract and no PMC copy; shown because it contradicts the other cohort.
   Clin Nutr ESPEN, 2021 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
4. ev-grpg-04 · Observational data · systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies · n = 5 studies
   No link was obtained between fruit consumption during the pregnancy and GDM onset (1.18, 95 % CI: 0.48, 2.91; I2:94.6 %, p = 0.0001).
   
   Who: cohort studies of fresh fruit intake and GDM, 2000 to January 2018
   Effect: during pregnancy RR 1.18 (95% CI 0.48 to 2.91), I2 94.6%; before pregnancy RR 0.95 (0.91 to 0.99)
   Certainty: Few studies and very high heterogeneity; authors urge great caution.
   Complement Ther Med, 2020 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
5. ev-grpg-05 · Observational data · prospective cohort · n = 18888
   Dried fruits, especially raisins, were associated with reduced risk of PPROM.
   
   Who: women in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort (MoBa)
   Effect: raisins and PPROM OR 0.71 (95% CI 0.56 to 0.92)
   Certainty: Observational, hypothesis-driven food selection; raisins are dried grapes and fresh grapes were not studied.
   J Nutr, 2013 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
6. ev-grpg-06 · Laboratory or animal data · animal experiment · n = —
   In addition, fetal pancreatic mass was enlarged by 42%, with a 12-fold increase in proliferation by Ki67 immunohistochemistry.
   
   Who: pregnant nonhuman primates fed a Western-style diet with 0.37% resveratrol throughout pregnancy
   Effect: fetal pancreatic mass +42%, 12-fold more Ki67 proliferation; maternal weight -30%, better glucose tolerance, higher uterine blood flow
   Certainty: Supplement dose far above any grape intake; animal data only.
   FASEB Journal, 2014, 28(6):2466-2477, Roberts et al., Beneficial and cautionary outcomes of resveratrol supplementation in pregnant nonhuman primates · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
7. ev-grpg-07 · Observational data · prospective pre-birth cohort · n = 1777
   Intakes of high or low pesticide residue FVs, regardless of pregnancy trimester, were not associated with risks of SGA, LGA, or preterm birth.
   
   Who: mothers in Project Viva, 1999-2002, intake in first and second trimester
   Effect: no association of high- or low-residue fruit and vegetable intake with SGA, LGA or preterm birth
   Certainty: Grapes are only one item in the high-residue group; the abstract gives no odds ratios.
   Environ Int, 2018 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
8. ev-grpg-08 · Observational data · prospective cohort · n = 325
   Compared with women in the lowest quartile of high-pesticide FV intake (<1.0 servings/d), women in the highest quartile (≥2.3 servings/d) had 18% (95% CI, 5%-30%) lower probability of clinical pregnancy and 26% (95% CI, 13%-37%) lower probability of live birth.
   
   Who: women in the EARTH cohort at a US fertility center, 541 ART cycles, preconception diet
   Effect: clinical pregnancy -18% (95% CI 5% to 30%); live birth -26% (13% to 37%); low-residue produce not related
   Certainty: Fertility patients and preconception intake; grapes are one item in the high-residue category. Washing or organic choice was not tested.
   JAMA Intern Med, 2018 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract