(New York Times) – By mid-2024, the weight-loss drugs were prescribed for almost 2 percent of new mothers.

Danish researchers were examining the use of medications during and after pregnancy when they noticed a clear trend: The number of women using weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy soon after childbirth had risen sharply.

In 2018, few women were using the drugs during the first six months after having a baby, with fewer than five prescriptions for every 10,000 new mothers. By mid-2022, that figure had increased to 34 prescriptions for every 10,000 new mothers, and by mid-2024, it had jumped to 173 prescriptions for every 10,000, or almost 2 percent of postpartum mothers. Most of the women were over 30, and two-thirds had more than one child. A majority were overweight, but they did not have diabetes and they had no history of using the drugs, known as GLP-1s, the researchers wrote. (Read More)