Xu is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis.
As GLP-1 RA prescribing in the perinatal period grows, ob-gyns must be prepared to elicit disclosure from patients who may feel ashamed, counsel on the absence of a clear teratogenicity signal while emphasizing ongoing uncertainty, and address the underrecognized fertility implications of GLP-1 RA-associated weight loss—while recognizing that most prescribing occurs outside obstetric care, according to Kevin Y. Xu, MD, MPH, and Jeannie C. Kelly, MD, MS.
Investigators behind a national EHR study of perinatal GLP-1 RA prescribing acknowledge that the data cannot distinguish inadvertent early-pregnancy exposure from planned preconception discontinuation, and call for deeper, outcomes-focused research to build on the prescribing trends they identified.
A national EHR database study found that GLP-1 RA prescribing among perinatal patients increased more than thirtyfold between 2019 and 2024, with an estimated 20,000 pregnant individuals exposed in 2024 alone.
