New Study Suggests No Major Adverse Outcomes With Early GLP-1 Exposure During Pregnancy

June 9, 2026
HealthDay Staff HealthDay Reporter

New research is shedding light on first-trimester GLP-1 exposure during pregnancy — and the findings may offer some reassurance.

GLP-1 use among women of reproductive age is increasing. And while current recommendations call for discontinuation before pregnancy, unintentional early exposure can occur.

The medications, which increase hormones that help control hunger, satiety and blood sugar, according to Drugs.com, are approved for chronic weight management.

For the study — published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine — researchers analyzed insurance claims from nearly 3,600 women, ages 16 to 55, comparing pregnancies where GLP-1 medications were continued into the first trimester with pregnancies in which they were stopped.

The investigators looked at outcomes such as pregnancy loss, abnormal fetal growth and major congenital malformations.

For most outcomes, the risks appeared similar between the groups — with no definitive increase apparent for continued medication use.

For example, the weighted risk of non-live birth was 29.7% among pregnancies with medication continuation and 27.1% among those without continuation.

The authors, who included Krista Huybrechts of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said these findings may provide some reassurance for women with unintentional first-trimester exposure to GLP-1s.

However, because some estimates were imprecise, particularly for rarer outcomes of major congenital malformation and small birth size, the authors said further research would be valuable to better understand the safety of GLP-1s in pregnancy.

More information

The Mayo Clinic has more on weight loss medications.

SOURCE: HealthDay TV, June 9, 2026

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