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Exposure to GLP-1 weight-loss and diabetes drugs around conception is not linked to a clearly detectable increase in adverse outcomes for mothers or babies, according to the largest study of its kind, involving more than 2.1 million pregnancies and led by researchers at City St George's.

GLP-1 receptor agonists are a class of medicines used to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes. They include semaglutide, sold under brand names such as Ozempic and Wegovy, and tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro. Their popularity has grown rapidly in recent years, with increasing numbers of women of reproductive age using these medicines.

Current clinical guidance recommends that women stop taking GLP-1 receptor agonists before a planned pregnancy because there is limited evidence about their effects during pregnancy. However, because many pregnancies are unplanned, women are often exposed to these medications before they know they are pregnant.

But this study offers reassuring evidence for women who inadvertently become pregnant while taking GLP-1s.

The study, published in Med, is the largest systematic review and meta-analysis on this topic to date.

Led by professor Asma Khalil, researchers examined data from 10 studies that had investigated pregnancy outcomes among women who had been exposed to GLP-1 receptor agonists during the periconceptional period. This included before conception and in the very early stages of pregnancy before pregnancy was recognized.

The analysis included 2,118,215 pregnancies, including 8,325 pregnancies in which the mother had been exposed to a GLP-1 receptor agonist around the time of conception and within six months before a positive pregnancy test.

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