NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Doctors are noticing a new phenomenon among users of popular, weight-loss medications: surprise pregnancies.
They are being called "Ozempic babies" and medical professionals in Tennessee say they are becoming more common.
"It's often a miracle. And it's a beautiful thing to see that transformation," said Dr. Gitanjali Srivastava, the Director of Clinical Obesity Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
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Srivastava described "Ozempic babies" as an unexpected pregnancy made possible because a woman has lost weight by taking diabetes or weight loss drugs, like Ozempic.
"I have women patients of mine who have obesity, who have been told by fertility clinics that they are they there's no chance of natural pregnancy or conception in the future. But then all of a sudden, through medical treatment, through weight loss treatment, these women are able to naturally conceive and have a pregnancy," Srivastava said.
Srivastava said the correlation has to do with menstrual cycles and improving fertility. "A majority of these women may have irregular menstrual cycles, and they may not know it, but fertility does increase with weight loss. And what many of these medications are doing...the GLP 1 receptor agonist class of medications...is they're resetting the ovulatory function through weight loss."
However, Srivastava said while Ozempic hasn't been shown to decrease the effectiveness of birth control methods, other obesity medications can.
"The combination of phentermine and topiramate, Qsymia is one of them, and that can decrease the effects of oral contraceptives," she said.
Srivastava does suggest anyone on weight loss medication who is not trying to get pregnant use two methods of contraception.
"It's usually a pleasant surprise. It's far fewer that it's a negative surprise for most women," she said. "It's been a game changer for many patients."
Dr. Srivastava said expecting mothers should stop taking weight loss medications and can always resume these medications after giving birth and finishing breastfeeding.
According to Srivastava, there is not enough research yet on how these drugs interact with fetal health, but stopping taking them early in pregnancy should minimize risk.
As with all medications, Srivastava suggested talking to a medical professional before starting weight loss treatment, especially if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant.