Ozempic is a brand name for the drug semaglutide, which is FDA-approved to treat type 2 diabetes. Under the brand name Wegovy, semaglutide’s aim is to treat obesity. But women who have struggled with infertility are getting pregnant after taking Ozempic. So are women who are taking birth control pills. It is natural to wonder why this is happening. Does Ozempic have another off-label use?
Dr. Iman Saleh is uniquely qualified to explain this. She is not only an obstetrician and gynecologist but also the director of obesity medicine at the Bariatrics Department at Northwell. She broke things down in a interview with People.
Social media is full of stories about these “Ozempic babies.”
One Reddit user shared: “Since my last pregnancy required a lengthy fertility process, I assumed, at 40! It couldn’t be. Well, I’m pregnant! It wasn’t what we were planning but a welcome surprise."
Raven Rechelle, a content creator on TikTok, also got pregnant while on the drug. “Thanks to Ozempic…this went from a weight loss journey to a pregnancy journal,” she shared on the platform.
More from LittleThings: ICU Nurse Who Took Ozempic To Lose Weight Reveals About What Happened When She Stopped
Dr. Iman Saleh shared she has seen this in her own practice. “I've actually seen a few patients of mine that have come in after a couple of months of usage of the medication for weight loss and have these surprise babies or surprise pregnancies,” she explained. Ozempic may help with infertility indirectly.
“Even if it's a 5, 10 lbs. weight loss, this can actually have patients resume ovulation and be able to get pregnant,” Dr. Saleh explained. “Our fat cells produce estrogen and estrogen can have a negative effect on our ovaries in terms of decreased or dysfunction of ovulation. It can also have negative effects on our endometrial lining.”
It is heartening to hear that women who have struggled with infertility are getting the results they have dreamed of for a long time. For women wanting to avoid pregnancy, this news could be a cautionary tale. Ozempic may interact with birth control pills.
"There is a component with the decreased gastric emptying or the slowing of the gut,” Dr. Iman Saleh explained. “As we use these medications to make people make fuller, the absorption changes in our body. And therefore the absorption of patients on birth control can affect the efficacy of the birth control.”
Novo Nordisk, Wegovy and Ozempic’s manufacturer, has responded to the “Ozempic baby” phenomenon by creating a registry. The company wants to learn about women’s experiences on the Wegovy Pregnancy Registry. Once a woman becomes pregnant, it is advised that they go off the semaglutide shots because there is not enough information available to know if it is safe for the developing baby.
”A lot of the people are using it for weight loss in order to get to a certain weight before getting pregnant. We do recommend they have to stop the medication two months prior,” Dr. Saleh concluded.
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