Obese fetus? Let mom pop a pill, doc says

msnbc.msn.com ^ | 05/24/2011 | JoNel Aleccia

[massmike]

A British doctor is hoping to battle obesity in babies still in the womb by giving their heavy mothers pills to prevent more weight gain.

Dr. Hassan Shehata wants to keep potentially pudgy babies from tipping the scales too high at birth, which can expose them — and their moms — to serious complications and lifelong problems.

The solution, he believes, is to give the pregnant, obese women the popular diabetes drug metformin — even though the expectant mothers don’t actually have the disease.

Whether metformin is actually the answer remains to be seen. There are questions about the long-term effect on the fetus, especially the fetal liver, Artal said. And researchers need to make sure that weight of the baby goes down because of metformin’s insulin effect, not some other reason, Curet noted.

Shehata is confident that those questions will be resolved. His study passed muster with ethics committees at the National Health Service. Now, he’s just waiting for the first babies to be born.

[RnMomof7]

Heck why care if it damages the baby’s liver or kidney,,He will “look” good and after all that is all that matters

[momtothree]

How stupid is this? I know in my Mom’s generation they would prescribe diet pills if a woman gained more than 15 pounds during her pregnancy. You would think by now people would understand that you should take as little as possible with regards to pills/medications. This mentality of do what it takes to prevent some fat on you is really getting crazy.