Britain: Obese Mothers Drugged in Attempt to Produce Smaller Babies

April 2nd, 2012

It’s tough to know where to begin on this one…

Via: Herald Sun:

In a world first trial, 400 overweight pregnant women in the UK and Scotland will be prescribed metformin – a drug that has been used for decades to treat diabetes and is cleared for pregnancy.

Researchers are hoping that taking metformin from the second trimester onwards will have result in smaller babies and cut the risk of stillbirth, maternal death and cardiovascular disease.

The trial has angered many health experts who say overweight mothers should be encouraged to exercise and eat properly rather than just pop a pill to produce a thinner baby.

2 Responses to “Britain: Obese Mothers Drugged in Attempt to Produce Smaller Babies”

  1. stimoceiver says:

    Methinks the elite likes to keep their 1st world populations obese.

    Obese people would rather sit and consume (food, media) than get up out of their chair and do anything or produce anything, let alone take part in a revolt.

  2. Ann says:

    This one doesn’t bother me as much as I’m sure it bothers most of you. Why? Because a woman who either got pregnant unexpectedly or couldn’t be bothered to lose weight before pregnancy isn’t going to start a weight loss program during pregnancy.

    Pregnancy is risky enough without obesity; add that into the equation, and the lives of both mother and baby are immediately at risk. I can’t tell you how many of my overweight friends have nearly died or had their babies die (one did die) because of complications arising from their pregnancies, mostly gestational diabetes.

    This isn’t really about producing smaller babies; that’s part of it, but that is not the main reason the drug is being used. Metformin reduces the risk of and can completely eliminate the risk of gestational diabetes and even certain birth defects. It’s not just a diabetes drug; it also regulates a woman’s reproductive hormones. It can also reduce the risk of miscarriage.

    Should these women lose weight and get healthy? Yes. Are they going to do so? Probably not. Definitely not, in a lot of cases. If medication will keep both them and their babies alive (and incidentally, if the baby ends up not being larger due to gestational diabetes, he or she won’t be as likely to be obese one day) then I’m all for it.

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