NHS guidance is to avoid retinoids, the vitamin A creams and serums that include retinol, while you're pregnant.
If you've been using one and only just found out you're pregnant, the advice is simple: stop now, and mention it to your midwife at your next appointment. The strengths you can buy over the counter, absorbed through skin, are considered low-risk by clinicians. That is why the guidance is to stop and mention it, not to panic.
MAI is medication-aware, not a replacement for your midwife, GP or pharmacist. This page is here to help you know what to look at and what to ask.
Why there's so much conflicting advice
The confusion comes from one thing. The proven risk is vitamin A taken by mouth in high doses, which is why the NHS says to avoid liver and high-dose vitamin A supplements in pregnancy. The evidence on creams and serums is much thinner. Very little retinol gets through the skin, and how much varies from one person to the next, which the UK Teratology Information Service (bumps) spells out clearly.
Brands rarely tell you a product is fine, because the legal risk of saying so is high, so they default to avoid. Online you'll find people confidently saying both things. So the advice lands as a flat “stop”, and the reason it's careful rather than alarmed gets lost along the way.
Why the answer depends on you
Whether this matters much for you comes down to a few things a label can't see. Which trimester you're in changes how cautious to be. What else is on your face matters too: if you're layering a strong acid or another active on top, that combination is worth a closer look than the retinol on its own.
Pregnancy hormones can leave your skin more reactive than it used to be, so a product that suited you last year can sting now. And if you're planning to breastfeed, it's worth thinking about early, because the same questions come round again.