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Is semaglutide safe during pregnancy?

Answered by MotherToBaby’s teratology specialists, quoted in full — including the questions most pages skip, like whether a father’s exposure matters.

By the pharmaranks editorial teamReviewed against the MotherToBaby fact sheet for semaglutide (OTIS, published via the NIH) sourcesUpdated Jul 21, 2026How we research

The questions people actually ask about semaglutide in pregnancy

Answered by MotherToBaby, the fact sheets written by the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists and published through the NIH. Quoted in full — we do not condense them.

I am taking semaglutide, but I would like to stop taking it before getting pregnant. How long does the drug stay in my body?

The time it takes the body to metabolize (to process) medication is not the same for everyone. In healthy non-pregnant adults, it takes up to 6 weeks, on average, for most of the semaglutide to be gone from the body.

The product labels for Ozempic®, Wegovy®, and Rybelsus® recommend that women who are planning a pregnancy to stop this medication 2 months before a pregnancy.

I take semaglutide. Can it make it harder for me to get pregnant?

It is not known if semaglutide can make it harder to get pregnant.

Does taking semaglutide increase the chance of miscarriage?

Miscarriage is common and can occur in any pregnancy for many different reasons. Studies have not been done in humans to see if semaglutide increases the chance of miscarriage. Animal studies have reported a higher chance for miscarriage. It is unclear if this finding was due to the medication or from weight loss. As there can be many causes of miscarriage, it is hard to know if the medication, the medical condition, or other factors are the cause of a miscarriage.

Does taking semaglutide in pregnancy increase the chance of other pregnancy-related problems?

Human studies have not been done to see if semaglutide increases the chance for pregnancy-related problems such as preterm delivery (birth before week 37) or low birth weight (weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces [2500 grams] at birth). Animal studies reported offspring that were smaller than usual when the parent animal was exposed to doses higher than the dose used in humans. It is unclear if this was due to the medication, weight loss, or that the study animals were healthy and did not need to take semaglutide to stay healthy.

Does taking semaglutide in pregnancy affect future behavior or learning for the child?

Studies have not been done to see if semaglutide can cause behavior or learning issues for the child.

If a man takes semaglutide, could it affect fertility or increase the chance of birth defects?

Studies have not been done in humans to see if semaglutide could affect a man’s fertility (ability to get a woman pregnant) or increase the chance of birth defects above the background risk. There were no changes in male fertility reported in one animal study using the dose of semaglutide that would be used in humans. In general, exposures that fathers or sperm donors have are unlikely to increase risks to a pregnancy. For more information, please see the MotherToBaby fact sheet Paternal Exposures at https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/paternal-exposures-pregnancy/ .

Quoted from MotherToBaby Fact Sheets — Semaglutide, published October 2023. MotherToBaby states its fact sheets should not take the place of medical care and advice from your healthcare providers.

Breastfeeding is a separate question — what LactMed says about semaglutide

This is general reference information, not medical advice. Whether to take any medication in pregnancy is a decision for you and your prescriber; do not start or stop a drug on your own, because an untreated condition can also carry risk.