{"id":195084,"date":"2025-06-18T18:38:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T18:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/195084\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T18:38:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T18:38:12","slug":"when-doctors-said-my-unborn-child-could-have-severe-birth-defects-i-suspected-what-might-be-to-blame-my-weight-loss-jabs-im-so-angry-i-wasnt-told-this-is-what-women-need-to-know-hannah-smyth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/195084\/","title":{"rendered":"When doctors said my unborn child could have severe birth defects I suspected what might be to blame: My weight-loss jabs. I’m so angry I wasn’t told – this is what women need to know: HANNAH SMYTH"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was desperation to lose the stubborn three stone in baby weight I\u2019d put on after two children that first led me to Mounjaro.<\/p>\n

In the three years since I\u2019d given birth to my second child, I\u2019d tried everything \u2013 gym, calorie counting, cutting out sugar \u2013 but nothing had worked.<\/p>\n

Then 36, I was a size 16 and weighed 13st 3lbs; I wasn\u2019t exactly obese but, like many others, I\u2019d heard about the so-called \u2018King Kong\u2019 of weight-loss drugs. I guess I was swept along by all the hype and wanted a quick fix.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a decision I now deeply regret.<\/p>\n

As someone who tries to avoid taking medication of any kind, even painkillers, I\u2019d done a lot of online research before taking the plunge.<\/p>\n

Aside from the well-known side-effects of constipation and nausea, there were possible links to thyroid cancer<\/a> and pancreatic problems. But friends who were already on the jabs assured me that side-effects were rare and, the more I looked into it, it seemed they were right.<\/p>\n

Besides, I only planned to be on Mounjaro for one or two months \u2013 just enough to kickstart my weight loss \u2013 so I put these worries to the back of my mind. What happened next, however, will haunt me for life. After five weeks on Mounjaro, I discovered I was pregnant \u2013 despite taking my usual precautions and having only planned to have two children. I didn\u2019t want to endure an abortion, however, so we embraced the pregnancy and started planning for our new addition.<\/p>\n

But eight weeks in, I suffered agonising pain and, after a series of scans and tests, doctors revealed the horrifying news: I probably wouldn\u2019t carry the baby to term and, if I did, there was a strong possibility that he or she would be born with severe birth defects.<\/p>\n

\"After <\/p>\n

After five weeks on Mounjaro, I discovered I was pregnant \u2013 despite taking my usual precautions and having only planned to have two children. I didn’t want to endure an abortion, however, so we embraced the pregnancy and started planning for our new addition<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued an urgent warning that weight-loss jabs could not only make contraception less effective but prove harmful to unborn babies<\/p>\n

After much agonising, I felt I had no choice but to have a termination; a traumatic conclusion that, nearly nine months on, leaves me riddled with guilt and anger.<\/p>\n

Guilt that I killed a potential life \u2013 and blind fury about the subsequent revelation that Mounjaro might have been to blame.<\/p>\n

This month, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued an urgent warning that weight-loss jabs could not only make contraception less effective but prove harmful to unborn babies.<\/p>\n

Women of childbearing age using any slimming injection including Ozempic and Wegovy were urged to use birth control, due to potential risks to both the pregnant woman and the foetus. While those using Mounjaro were told to \u2018double-up\u2019 their methods of contraception if using the Pill.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t on the Pill, though \u2013 my husband Jonathan and I were using a fertility app that had worked faultlessly for almost 20 years.<\/p>\n

Had the drug heightened my fertility? And, more importantly, had it caused the \u2018unviable pregnancy\u2019, as the doctors had called it, which led to my abortion?<\/p>\n

If I\u2019d known about these risks, I would have avoided the drug altogether. I find it so painful that all this heartbreak could have been avoided had it been more thoroughly researched.<\/p>\n

Before having a family, I\u2019d never struggled with my weight and was always fairly confident about my body. It was only after having my daughter, now three, that I struggled to shift the pounds and felt down about it.<\/p>\n

I tried upping my exercise and eating healthily but it didn\u2019t seem to have any effect. Having heard so much about these so-called \u2018wonder drugs\u2019 from the media and friends who were on them, I decided to give it a go myself.<\/p>\n

\"Had <\/p>\n

Had the drug heightened my fertility? And, more importantly, had it caused the ‘unviable pregnancy’, as the doctors had called it, which led to my abortion?<\/p>\n

\"After <\/p>\n

After my first jab my appetite was suppressed immediately but I was disappointed to find I’d only lost 4lbs in four weeks<\/p>\n

As I wasn\u2019t obese or diabetic \u2013 the drugs were originally invented to combat diabetes \u2013 I didn\u2019t think there was any point in contacting my GP. Instead, I ordered a low dose of 2.5mg of Mounjaro from an online pharmacy at a cost of \u00a3185 a month.<\/p>\n

I took my first jab last October at 8pm and my appetite was suppressed immediately. The next day I ate less and was simply not as interested in food.<\/p>\n

This continued so I was disappointed to find I\u2019d only lost 4lbs in four weeks. And having done a body metrics scan at my local gym, I discovered that 2lbs of that was muscle instead of fat.<\/p>\n

Still, I continued, telling myself I was lucky not to be suffering any side-effects at all. Around the same time, though, I noticed my period was late. I\u2019m normally like clockwork every 28 days, so I did wonder if the jabs might have interrupted my cycle.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t used the Pill or an implant since I was 18 as the hormones did not agree with me. Instead, for the last 20 years, I\u2019ve relied on a fertility app and thermometer to measure my fertile week \u2013 this had helped me conceive easily when I wanted to and avoid pregnancy the rest of the time. I dismissed the possibility of pregnancy for this reason.<\/p>\n

But by week five, my breasts started hurting \u2013 a first sign of pregnancy previously \u2013 so I took a test. There was no doubt in the result: positive. My reaction was one of blind panic and confusion. Jonathan was equally baffled. We had been so careful.<\/p>\n

Looking back at my fertility app, it showed that I was most likely two to three weeks pregnant.<\/p>\n

I stopped taking the jab immediately. But now what?<\/p>\n

I love my children more than anything but we\u2019d decided to stop at two. Jonathan had been considering a vasectomy and I wanted to put my baby days behind me \u2013 reclaim my body and my career as a graphic designer.<\/p>\n

That said, I didn\u2019t want to put myself through the emotional fallout of a termination.<\/p>\n

Instead, we started to prepare for our new addition to the family. Jonathan took to Rightmove to find out where we could afford a four-bed house.<\/p>\n

But around week eight, I experienced breathtakingly sharp pains in my abdomen. Suspecting an ectopic pregnancy, I went to A&E. They did an internal scan and a blood test to check my hormone levels. Because the pregnancy was so early, they couldn\u2019t quite detect where the foetus was so they decided to test my pregnancy hormones every 48 hours.<\/p>\n

I was told that in a normal pregnancy the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) hormone is supposed to double every 48 hours.<\/p>\n

In my first blood test, it came back as having increased by only 60 per cent, in my second 40 per cent, in my third 10 per cent. Something was very wrong.<\/p>\n

Panicked, I turned to the internet again and that\u2019s when I found a study that showed mice and rats on Mounjaro, Wegovy and Ozempic had suffered birth defects. At this point the link had not been made to humans.<\/p>\n

I felt sick. Why had I not been warned about this being even a remote possibility? The only warning on the packet was to say that if you are trying for a baby, you should not take the jab for two months before, but I\u2019d assumed that was irrelevant as we weren\u2019t trying for a baby.<\/p>\n

Another scan showed that the pregnancy wasn\u2019t ectopic but clearly something wasn\u2019t right. It was at that point that I admitted I had been on Mounjaro and while the doctors couldn\u2019t \u2013 or wouldn\u2019t \u2013 say either way whether this had caused it, they did say I needed to think very carefully about what I was going to do next.<\/p>\n

The doctor told me she would be very surprised if I didn\u2019t miscarry naturally in the next two weeks. This was devastating; I\u2019d never had a miscarriage before. But, worse still, if I did carry to anywhere near term, there was a chance the baby could be severely deformed.<\/p>\n

I felt so torn. We had already experienced life in the neo-natal unit when our son, now six, was born three months premature and had to spend six months in hospital and two years on oxygen. While he has no severe problems now, it was incredibly stressful. Did I want to put us through that again as older parents who already had two young children?<\/p>\n

What if I did continue with the pregnancy and suffered the agonies of a late miscarriage? Or gave birth to a baby who had no future at all. Or… there was a small chance that everything would be fine and I\u2019d give birth to a healthy child. At this point, I was still telling myself abortion wasn\u2019t an option for me. This was my child after all. Though I was so afraid that, at times, I wished nature would decide for me.<\/p>\n

My husband was completely on the same page as me. He said it was my body and that I had to do what was right for me as I\u2019d be the one going through the physical and emotional trauma. I\u2019d told him about the possible link with Mounjaro and, like me, he was shocked. But there was no element of blame. We were both thinking: \u2018How were we supposed to know?\u2019<\/p>\n

By week ten, though, things looked far bleaker. The declining levels of pregnancy hormone and the increasing risk of giving birth to a baby that stood no chance of a real future forced us to make an agonising decision. I would go ahead with a chemically induced miscarriage. Devastated, I took two tablets at home and the process was over in around 48 hours. It was awful \u2013 I spent two days in bed; a mixture of tears, anger and terror. I had to endure it alone so my husband could keep the children away; they were told Mummy was ill. But Jonathan came up regularly to supply me with whatever I needed. I just wanted the horror to be over.<\/p>\n

Afterwards, I went away on my own to Cornwall for a couple of days to process what had happened. When my husband joined me with our children, I felt so much guilt \u2013 what if I\u2019d done this to them?<\/p>\n

Back home, I felt too ashamed to admit the truth to my friends. I told those who\u2019d known about my pregnancy that I\u2019d miscarried. I did make them aware that Mounjaro could have caused the pregnancy to be unviable. It felt important to me to let other women know. I couldn\u2019t stop thinking about the little life I\u2019d had to end. In an attempt to keep busy, I threw myself into setting up my own business as a graphic designer.<\/p>\n

But deep down I was still so angry. All pharmacies vet weightloss jab patients and mine had done so over Zoom; there had been ample opportunity to warn me of any potential risks of birth defects or at least increased fertility.<\/p>\n

The studies I\u2019ve come across claim this is a rare side-effect. But when you look on Mounjaro forums, there are enough anecdotes of women on the jab having similar experiences to raise alarm. Some babies are born healthy, of course \u2013 they even call them \u2018Ozempic babies\u2019 \u2013 but there are also miscarriages and birth defects.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it, there\u2019s still so much we don\u2019t know about the long or short-term consequences of these so-called miracle jabs.<\/p>\n

A few of my fellow school mums are on them and at least one of them has had a miscarriage. She had no idea about the possible link until I opened up to her about my own experience. She was horrified.<\/p>\n

I understand that weight-loss jabs can be life-savers for the morbidly obese who have struggled to shed the pounds any other way. But the truth is far too many of us are using them as a quick fix to shed two or three stone, without knowing the full spectrum of possible side-effects.<\/p>\n

At a time when MPs are planning to roll out the jabs to even more people, in the battle against obesity, we need to wise up \u2013 and fast.<\/p>\n

As for me, I will forever hold onto the guilt and regret of the abortion.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want anyone other women to face the same fate.<\/p>\n

As told to Jill Foster. Additional reporting: Matthew Barbour. Hannah Smyth is a pseudonym. Names and identifying details have been changed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was desperation to lose the stubborn three stone in baby weight I\u2019d put on after two children…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[92,368,105,370,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-195084","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-femail","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-ozempic","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114705826904636816","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}