I was terrified when I got pregnant with ‘Ozempic baby’ after weeks on fat jabs – I feared ‘thalidmide effects’ or worse

STARING at yet another pregnancy test, Erica Coronado was thrilled but terrified.

The 36-year-old had given up hope of a baby after two years of trying and the agony of a stillbirth.

So seeing two lines appear on the tests “felt like a dream” for her and husband Joseph Leyton, 26.

Yet they were then gripped by fear — as a month earlier Erica had started taking “fat jab” Ozempic.

Erica, now 37, tells The Sun: “I was worried my baby might have a defect, or worse.”

Desperate for reassurance, Erica turned to TikTok and a Facebook group of other mums who had given birth to “Ozempic babies”.

One new mum posted: “I lost so much sleep thinking something will go wrong.”

Others feared the jabs could be the next thalidomide — a drug given for morning sickness in the late Fifties and early Sixties, that caused severe birth defects.

Erica already had children Alexa, 14, and Jordon, 19, from a previous relationship but she and husband Joseph were desperate for a baby of their own.

But in 2019, aged 30, she had been diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common hormone disorder making it harder to conceive.

She did get pregnant in 2020 but developed pre-eclampsia and was forced to give birth to her stillborn baby.

“It left such a huge hole in my heart that I thought would never be filled,” she says.

“I really started to believe it might never happen again.”

Fearing she may never conceive, Erica focused on something she felt she could control — her weight.

Shortly before her PCOS diagnosis, a symptom of which is weight gain, she had piled on the pounds and reached 16st 4lb.

So, in 2023, fed up with diet fails, she started on Ozempic, which mimics the gut hormone GLP-1 that is released after eating and works to slow food’s movement through the gut so you feel full for longer.

Ozempic is approved in the UK only for type 2 diabetes but in the US off-label for weight loss. In the UK, its equivalent Wegovy is licensed for weight loss, as is Mounjaro.

In just two months, Erica lost 15lb but also noticed she had missed two periods — and a pregnancy test proved positive.

Despite her fears, Erica counts herself lucky as she welcomed her perfectly healthy baby girl, Mariana Jo last year — and hails her “my little miracle”.

“It’s so wonderful to have a baby in the house again,” she gushes.

“Mariana Jo laughs at everything and has developed a fondness for animals. While she will never replace the baby we lost, she brings so much joy to all of us.”

But Erica was right to worry — we do not know the effects the “miracle” weight-loss injections might have on unborn babies.

More research is needed into how GLP-1 injections like semaglutide — the drug in Wegovy and Ozempic — and tirzepatide, in Mounjaro, affect pregnancy.

And health chiefs warned last week the drugs must NOT be taken during pregnancy, so women using them should also use contraception.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency says: “Taking the medicine could cause harm to the baby.”

Data from animal studies suggests potential for harm, with low birth weight and skeletal abnormalities

Professor Rebecca Reynolds

Professor Rebecca Reynolds at the University of Edinburgh adds: “There is hardly any data from human studies to advise if these drugs are safe in pregnancy.

“Data from animal studies suggests potential for harm, with low birth weight and skeletal abnormalities.”

Dr Bassel Wattar, a consultant gynaecologist at Anglia Ruskin University says it is rare for pregnant women to join trials like this, as it can be “riskier and more expensive”.

But studies of rats found semaglutide caused early pregnancy loss and birth defects. Similar was seen in rabbits and monkeys.

However, The Sun’s resident GP, Dr Zoe Williams, says: “It’s not really plausible that these drugs could be the ‘next thalidomide’, due to the pharmacology.

“The GLP-1 [weight-loss] drugs are peptides that work by mimicking natural, existing, small proteins in our bodies. In contrast, thalidomide is a drug that can affect blood vessel growth.

“The reason for this new advice is that we don’t have enough safety data to know if the medicines could cause harm to the baby.

"But it is not likely they would cause such significant birth defects as seen with thalidomide.

“The fact that so far no evidence of danger to the baby has been seen, despite many women getting pregnant on them, is tentatively reassuring.”

In fact, the medicines seem to make women MORE fertile and, in the right hands, could prove the most effective treatment for infertility we have seen in decades, experts have told The Sun.

Dr Nerys Astbury, Associate Professor of Diet and Obesity at the University of Oxford, tells us: “It could be that these medicines improve conception chances, we don’t know yet.”

Dr Wattar says: “It’s not the medication itself but the weight-loss that helps regulate a woman’s hormones, allowing her ovaries to function properly again. Pregnancy is more of a happy side effect.”

He now prescribes fat jabs to women with PCOS, adding: “We have found in our clinic these injections are the superior method to help women reach a healthy weight quickly, improving their chances of pregnancy.”

But in line with MHRA guidance, he takes his patients OFF the drugs up to two months before couples try to get pregnant.

Dr Astbury agrees with Dr Wattar and says: “The weight loss triggered by obesity medicines is likely to be driving these pregnancies, rather than the drugs.

"Losing even a small amount of weight can be enough to reverse infertility.”

There should be clearer warnings so women don’t accidentally fall pregnant

Erica

Meanwhile Erica, from California, credits her jabs with helping her conceive, and is calling for greater awareness of their fertility-boosting effects.

She was prescribed Ozempic by her doctor, but never told it could affect her chance of having a baby.

“There should be clearer warnings so women don’t accidentally fall pregnant,” she warns.

The drugs’ makers, Eli Lilly (Mounjaro) and Novo Nordisk (Wegovy and Ozempic) advise women who are pregnant, or trying, to not use the medication — and Dr Astbury says: “Medics prescribing these medications should be advising women to use effective forms of contraception."

MHRA also warns Mounjaro may reduce the effectiveness of oral contraceptives in people with obesity, and recommends non-oral forms of contraception such as the implant, coil or condoms. It also says that weight-loss jabs must not be used by mums who are breastfeeding.

It also says weight-loss jabs must not be used by mums who are breastfeeding.

Dr Alison Cave, MHRA chief safety officer, says: “Skinny jabs are licensed to treat specific medical conditions and should not be used as aesthetic or cosmetic treatments.”

A Novo Nordisk spokesman told us: “There is limited data with semaglutide use in pregnant women to inform risk for adverse outcomes.

Semaglutide should be discontinued in women at least two months before a planned pregnancy, and not used in pregnancy.”

A spokesman for Mounjaro maker Eli Lily said: “This should not be used in pregnancy, and it is recommended to use contraception while using this.”