Ozempic babies! Women on birth control get pregnant after starting weight loss drugs – and this is why

Women become pregnant accidentally while taking weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro, while on contraception.

A Facebook group called “I Got Pregnant on Ozempic” has more than 450 members, while people on Reddit threads and TikTokers share notes about how they got pregnant unexpectedly while taking semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic.

The doctors said USA today they think it could be due to two things. First, the fact that weight loss corrects hormonal imbalances caused by obesity and metabolic disorders, which increases fertility.

Second, weight loss medications could reduce the effectiveness of birth control pills, increasing the chances of pregnancy.

“I got pregnant on Ozempic and I was taking the pill! The baby boy is due in June,” one person commented on a TikTok video.

“My surprise baby Ozempic is almost 4 months old and thankfully in very good health!” someone else said.

Deb Oliviara, 32, started treatment with Ozempic the day after Thanksgiving to get rid of the extra weight that was making her depressed.

She was taking birth control pills, but not regularly, but she wasn’t worried because she had a history of fertility problems.

Two months after she started taking Ozempic, and the same week she reached her goal weight, Ms. Oliviara discovered she was pregnant.

“We were open to the idea, but we definitely weren’t trying,” she said. USA today.

“It was definitely a surprise and the only pregnancy, other than my first, that didn’t come after a loss.”

This is Ms Oliviara’s sixth pregnancy with only two living children, after losing one baby in the first trimester, another in the second and having a stillbirth.

She is currently ten weeks pregnant and both mother and baby are healthy.

Experts in reproductive and obesity medicine said they were watching the trend in their practices, but cautioned that women should not use weight-loss drugs to try to get pregnant.

Research in rats, rabbits and monkeys has shown that weight loss drugs can cause miscarriage and birth defects if taken during pregnancy. No studies have been performed on humans.

Women should stop taking weight-loss medications at least two months before a planned pregnancy, recommends Novo Nordisk, Ozempic’s drug maker.

Dr. Allison Rodgers, an obstetrician-gynecologist and reproductive endocrinologist at Fertility Centers of Illinois, said: USA today: “It is true that, from a scientific point of view, these drugs can facilitate pregnancy.

“But people should be careful because taking it during pregnancy could have dangerous consequences, since the drugs can linger in your system.”

Dr. Utsavi Shah, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology specializing in obesity medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said: USA today There is nothing special about the drugs that make people more fertile, other than how they interact with birth control pills.

She said USA today: “It is their effect on weight loss that helps regulate their menstrual cycles, thereby increasing their chances of getting pregnant.”

Fat cells release estrogen, meaning the more fat a person gains, the more estrogen they will have.

Supplemental estrogen can interrupt the regularity of menstruation and ovulation, making it more difficult to become pregnant.

Test-tube studies have shown that tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound, decreases the effectiveness of oral contraceptives such as birth control pills, according to drug labels.

Mounjaro and Zepbound make it take longer for the stomach to empty, which can impact how oral medications are absorbed in the body.

Semaglutide (the ingredient behind Ozempic and Wegovy) doesn’t have as great an effect on emptying the stomach, so it has no warnings about oral contraceptives.

Dr Shah said there was no need to panic.

“If you’re using effective birth control and taking these weight-loss medications, the risk of unwanted pregnancy is pretty low,” she said. USA today.