Malarone

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Date: October 2025, Version 4

Quick read

Malarone® can be used in pregnancy to prevent and treat malaria. This is very important as malaria can be life-threatening to both you and your unborn baby.

What is it?

Malarone® is an antimalarial drug. It may be recommended to prevent malaria if you are travelling to certain areas. It is also used to treat malaria if you have caught the infection.

Benefits

What are the benefits of using Malarone® in pregnancy?

Malarone® can prevent and treat malaria. This is important as malaria infection can be life-threatening and has been linked to stillbirth, preterm delivery, low infant birth weight, and death of the baby after birth.

If you take Malarone® during pregnancy, you will also need to take high dose folic acid (5mg per day) which needs to be prescribed by your doctor.

Risks

What are the risks of using Malarone® in pregnancy?

There are no known risks. If you need to take Malarone®, it should not be avoided because you are pregnant.

Alternatives

Are there any alternatives to using Malarone® in pregnancy?

Possibly. Other antimalarial medicines are available. However, if Malarone® is recommended, this is because it is the best drug to prevent malaria in the area you are travelling to or is needed for treatment if you have malaria infection. 
  
If you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy and need to travel, please speak to your GP or local travel clinic to find out which antimalarial medicine is best.

No treatment

What if I prefer not to take Malarone® during pregnancy?

If possible, you should avoid travelling to areas with malaria during pregnancy. If travel is essential, any recommended antimalarial drugs should be taken as advised by your GP or travel clinic. It is important that these medicines are taken carefully to ensure that they work properly.

As well as taking antimalarial medicines, you should avoid mosquito bites by measures such as wearing a DEET-based insect repellent, covering up bare skin with clothing as much as possible, avoiding being outdoors at dawn and dusk when mosquitos are most active, and using bed nets which have been treated with insect repellent.

Will I or my baby need extra monitoring?

As part of routine antenatal care in the UK, women are invited for a very detailed scan at around 20 weeks of pregnancy to check the baby’s development. No further scans to check for birth defects will be required due to use of Malarone®, although if you have had a malaria infection in pregnancy, you will be offered extra monitoring of your baby’s growth and wellbeing.

Are there any risks to my baby if the father has used Malarone®?

There is currently no evidence that Malarone® used by the father can harm the baby through effects on the sperm.

Who can I talk to if I have questions?

 If you have any questions regarding the information in this leaflet, please discuss them with your health care provider. They can access more detailed medical and scientific information from www.uktis.org.

How can I help to improve drug safety information for pregnant women in the future?

Our online reporting system (MyBump Portal) allows women who are currently pregnant to create a secure record of their pregnancy, collected through a series of questionnaires. You will be asked to enter information about your health, whether or not you take any medicines, your pregnancy outcome and your child's development. You can update your details at any time during pregnancy or afterwards. This information will help us better understand how medicines affect the health of pregnant women and their babies. Please visit the MyBump Portal to register.

General information
Sadly, miscarriage and birth defects can occur in any pregnancy.

Miscarriage occurs in about 1 in every 5 pregnancies, and 1 in every 40 babies are born with a birth defect. This is called the ‘background risk’ and happens whether medication is taken or not.

Most medicines cross the placenta and reach the baby. For many medications this is not a problem. However, some medicines can affect a baby’s growth and development.

If you take regular medication and are planning to conceive, you should discuss whether your medicine is safe to continue with your doctor/health care team before becoming pregnant. If you have an unplanned pregnancy while taking a medicine, you should tell your doctor as soon as possible.

If a new medicine is suggested for you during pregnancy, please make sure that the person prescribing it knows that you are pregnant. If you have any concerns about a medicine, you can check with your doctor, midwife or pharmacist.

Our Bumps information leaflets provide information about the effects of medicines in pregnancy so that you can decide, together with your healthcare provider, what is best for you and your baby.