Ozempic Babies

What is an Ozempic baby?

Ozempic, semaglutide, Mounjaro.  All these drugs are considered to be GLP–1 drugs.  I remember drug reps starting to educate me when I was in nurse practitioner school circa 2014.  They said it gets better control of diabetes,  Oh, and your patients may lose 10 pounds.  At the time, that was pretty similar to some of the other medications used to help control diabetes because often they would cause GI upset, upset stomach, decreased appetite.  

Fast Forward to 2023- Ozempic is totally blown up as a drug used for weight loss.  Often it is difficult to get approved through insurance but compound pharmacies have been selling the drugs due to a medical shortage for  $300-$700 a month.    The drug took off so quickly that the company making GLP-1's could not keep up with demand.  Many of these drugs have been on backorder for a long time meaning those patients with diabetes or insulin resistance or having a difficult time getting their prescribed medications.

So how does this relate to fertility?  Why are people on TikTok saying that there are so many surprise pregnancies?

Some people get diagnosed with infertility and then all of a sudden become pregnant after being on Ozempic. Why?  Well let's look at how it works.

GLP-1 medications slow down how quickly the stomach empties after you have had food.  They affect how things are absorbed.  This may alter your absorption of oral contraceptives, making them less effective.

GLP-1 medications  reduce appetite and thus lead to weight loss. 

When patients are overweight and have excess fat, the fat creates estrogen making it not conducive to pregnancy. These abnormal hormonal levels may also contribute to not ovulating or irregular periods.   Other underlying health issues such as PCOS can contribute to hormonal imbalances which do affect being able to get pregnant as well.

For some of my clients, I have recommended being on these medications if we feel that weight loss will have a positive effect on fertility. 

I have recommended this medication for people who do have PCOS because it can help with weight loss and hormonal balance.  These drugs have been proven to help improve metabolic health including high blood pressure, excess fat and  high cholesterol but these medications are not safe for pregnancy.  If you are on one  of these medications it is recommended that you stop taking it 2 months before trying to get pregnant and certainly stop ASAP  if you got pregnant by accident or were not really trying to conceive yet.  Why?

Because we do not know enough to know if it is safe or not.  These medications may cause harm to the fetus and so we do not want people to be on medication if we do not know how it may affect an unborn child. Studies are pending. 

For some of my clients, we work on getting your cycle regular, lab work within optimal range, and hormones in check so that when you’re ready to get pregnant, it happens faster with less risk of miscarriage. This is often a difficult conversation because those who have been trying to conceive want to continue trying so being told to wait for a few months cannot seem quite daunting.  However, if we can jump to having a healthy baby after a body reset, all of my clients would prefer this to not getting pregnant or having recurrent miscarriages.

So what if you do not want to get pregnant while also on Ozempic?

It may be worth considering a contraceptive that is not taken by mouth  NuvaRing, IUDs, cycle tracking, condoms, there are a lot of options depending on what works best for you.  Discuss this with your partner too, make sure you both know so you can act accordingly. 

The role of a fertility consultant: 

As a nurse practitioner and someone who struggled with infertility and miscarriage, I understand how imperative it is to assess all of your underlying health issues when it comes to fertility.  Whether this is getting ready to freeze your eggs, trying to conceive, or struggling with infertility, your overall health contributes greatly to your outcomes.  We emphasize getting good control of lifestyle factors, diet and exercise, supplements when indicated and sometimes medication to ensure that your body is in a good place to support pregnancy.  Working with a fertility consultant can help decrease cost, improve your chances of getting pregnant more quickly, decreasing need for IVF but also get better IVF outcomes.