Is sweet potato good during pregnancy?

It can raise how much vitamin A a mother gets, but we found no trial that measured what eating it in pregnancy does for the baby. In a cluster randomized trial of 505 pregnant women in Kenya, a program that gave out orange sweet potato vines with advice raised vitamin A intake by 297 RAE a day and cut the odds of low vitamin A status by 45%, measured about 9 months after birth. The vitamin A in orange sweet potato comes as beta-carotene, which, unlike preformed vitamin A, is not known to cause birth defects.

Unsettled. Whether eating sweet potato changes birthweight, preterm birth or anything else for the baby is open, because no trial we found tested it. The closest evidence is beta-carotene and vitamin A given as supplements, and those trials did not change birth outcomes or deaths.

What the trials found

The sweet potato trial

The Kenyan trial was run across 8 health facilities. Women in the intervention group got vouchers for orange sweet potato vines to grow, plus counseling and support groups, and the comparison group got counseling only. By 9 months after birth the intervention mothers had higher vitamin A intake, ate vitamin A rich fruit and vegetables on more days of the week, and had 45% lower odds (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.92) of low blood levels of retinol-binding protein, a marker of vitamin A. The intake numbers come from 206 of the mothers. The trial tested a program, not a plate of sweet potato, it had only 8 clusters, and it did not report birth outcomes.

Beta-carotene as a supplement

In a large trial in rural Bangladesh, pregnant women were given 42 mg of beta-carotene a week, the form of vitamin A that sweet potato carries, or preformed vitamin A, or placebo, from early pregnancy to 12 weeks after birth. Pregnancy-related deaths did not change: the relative risk was 1.21 (95% CI 0.81 to 1.81) for beta-carotene and 1.15 (0.75 to 1.76) for vitamin A. That shows no benefit for deaths and no clear harm, though both intervals are wide. The women lived where vitamin A deficiency was common, and they took a supplement rather than food.

A 2012 meta-analysis of 23 trials of vitamin A or beta-carotene supplements in pregnancy, mostly in low-income countries, found no significant overall effect on birthweight, preterm birth, stillbirth, miscarriage or fetal loss. These were supplements, not food, so the result speaks to beta-carotene and vitamin A in pill form, not to sweet potato.

Who should be careful

The pregnancy caution about vitamin A is about the preformed kind, in supplements, liver and fish liver oils. NIH advises women who are or might be pregnant, and those who are breastfeeding, not to take more than 3,000 mcg RAE (10,000 IU) a day of vitamin A supplements. That limit is not about beta-carotene from food. NIH also notes that beta-carotene, unlike preformed vitamin A, is not known to cause birth defects or harm reproduction.

Not for everyone. Eating a lot of orange sweet potato for a long time can turn the skin yellow-orange. NIH describes this, carotenodermia, as the most common effect of long-term excess beta-carotene and as harmless. It is not a sign of vitamin A poisoning.

We found no study of sweet potato and blood sugar or gestational diabetes in pregnancy, so we cannot tell you how it fits a diet for diabetes in pregnancy. That is a question for the person looking after your pregnancy.

What expert bodies say

We found no body that makes a claim for sweet potato in pregnancy. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements sets the supplement ceiling above and distinguishes beta-carotene from preformed vitamin A, and that is the only relevant guidance we found.

How we searched

What would change this answer

• A randomized trial that feeds sweet potato to pregnant women and records birthweight, preterm birth and the mother's vitamin A during pregnancy.
• A study of sweet potato and blood sugar in pregnancy, including in gestational diabetes.
• A trial like the Kenyan one in a population where vitamin A deficiency is uncommon.

More on this food: sweet potato and sweet potato and weight loss.

Sources

1. ev-sppg-01 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · cluster randomized effectiveness trial (8 facilities) · n = 505
   By 9 mo postpartum, intervention women had significantly higher intakes of VA [adjusted difference = 297.0 retinol activity equivalent (RAE) units; 95% CI: 82, 513 RAE units; P = 0.01; n = 206], greater consumption of VA-rich fruit and vegetables in the previous 7 d (difference-in-difference estimate: 0.40 d; 95% CI: 0.23, 0.56 d; P < 0.01), and a 45% reduction in the odds of RBP <1.17 μmol/L (OR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.33, 0.92; P = 0.01).
   
   Who: 505 women in early and mid pregnancy at 8 health facilities in Western Kenya; OFSP vine vouchers plus counseling vs counseling only; intake subsample 206 mothers at 8-10 months postpartum
   Effect: vitamin A intake +297.0 RAE (95% CI 82 to 513); odds of RBP <1.17 umol/L OR 0.55 (0.33 to 0.92)
   Certainty: A program (counseling, support groups, OFSP vines), not feeding sweet potato; only 8 clusters; effect measured after birth, not during pregnancy; birth outcomes not reported.
   J Nutr, 2017 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
2. ev-sppg-02 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · cluster randomized double-masked placebo-controlled trial (JiVitA-1) · n = 125,257 women under surveillance
   Relative risks for mortality in the vitamin A and beta carotene groups were 1.15 (95% CI, 0.75-1.76) and 1.21 (95% CI, 0.81-1.81), respectively.
   
   Who: pregnant women aged 13-45 years in 596 community clusters, rural northern Bangladesh, weekly from first trimester to 12 weeks postpartum
   Effect: pregnancy-related mortality RR 1.21 (95% CI 0.81 to 1.81) for beta-carotene; 1.15 (0.75 to 1.76) for vitamin A
   Certainty: Beta-carotene supplement, not food; population with common deficiency. No clear benefit or harm for mortality; intervals wide.
   JAMA, 2011 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
3. ev-sppg-03 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of trials with GRADE · n = 23 trials
   VA or beta-carotene (βC) supplementation during pregnancy did not have a significant overall effect on birthweight indicators, preterm birth, stillbirth, miscarriage or fetal loss.
   
   Who: pregnant women in trials of vitamin A or carotenoid supplementation, mostly low-income countries; 17 trials in meta-analyses
   Effect: no significant overall effect on birthweight, preterm birth, stillbirth, miscarriage or fetal loss; anemia RR 0.81 (0.69 to 0.94)
   Certainty: Supplements, not sweet potato; speaks to beta-carotene and vitamin A in supplement form, not to the food.
   Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol, 2012 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
4. ev-sppg-04 · Position of an expert body · government fact sheet · n = —
   Unlike preformed vitamin A, beta-carotene is not known to be teratogenic or lead to reproductive toxicity [1].
   
   Who: general population including pregnancy
   Effect: beta-carotene not known to be teratogenic
   Certainty: Sweet potato therefore does not fall under the pregnancy caution on liver and preformed vitamin A (retinol).
   NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Vitamin A and Carotenoids Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
5. ev-sppg-05 · Position of an expert body · government fact sheet · n = —
   Experts advise women who are or might be pregnant and those who are lactating not to take high doses (more than 3,000 mcg RAE [10,000 IU] daily) of vitamin A supplements [1].
   
   Who: women who are or might be pregnant, and lactating women
   Effect: supplement ceiling 3,000 mcg RAE (10,000 IU) per day of preformed vitamin A
   Certainty: Ceiling for preformed vitamin A; effect size in Rothman 1995 (ev-vapg-09).
   NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Vitamin A and Carotenoids Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
6. ev-sppg-06 · Position of an expert body · government fact sheet · n = —
   The most common effect of long-term, excess beta-carotene is carotenodermia, a harmless condition in which the skin becomes yellow-orange [3].
   
   Who: general population with long-term high beta-carotene intake
   Effect: carotenodermia, harmless and reversible
   Certainty: Orange skin tint from eating a lot of sweet potato is not a sign of poisoning.
   NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Vitamin A and Carotenoids Fact Sheet for Health Professionals · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section