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11-year data show that metformin is as safe in pregnancy as insulin
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Metformin is safe to use during pregnancy to manage diabetes, with no long-term adverse effects for babies born to such mothers or for the mothers themselves for at least 11 years after delivery, according to a study presented at ENDO 2024, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Boston, Mass. It is the first study to look at the long-term effects of metformin use during pregnancy.
"Metformin has been widely used for decades to manage elevated blood glucose levels during pregnancy. It is the only oral glucose-lowering drug approved for use during pregnancy," said Dr. Deep Dutta, director of endocrinology at CEDAR Superspeciality Healthcare in Dwarka, New Delhi, India.
The researchers noted that most of the studies they analyzed only covered about five years after birth. They sought to understand the long-term effects on mothers with diabetes and their children, going beyond previously published data.
In a literature review, the researchers analyzed data from 10,117 mother-child pairs taken from seven different cohort studies.
Nine-year-old children born to mothers who took metformin during pregnancy had similar values for BMI, waist circumference, total body fat mass by DXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), percent body fat mass by DXA, lean body mass by DXA, visceral fat tissue by MRI, and percent liver fat by magnetic resonance spectroscopy compared with children whose mothers used insulin during pregnancy.
Ultimately, they concluded that taking metformin during pregnancy was as safe as using insulin to lower blood glucose levels during pregnancy. Rates of obesity and diabetes were also similar in mothers who took metformin during pregnancy over an 11-year period after giving birth.
Dr. Dutta noted that the rates of obesity, diabetes or motor development problems in the two groups of children were also similar 11 years after birth.
"Our study provides us with encouraging data on the long-term safety of metformin use during pregnancy for children and their mothers," said Dr. Dutta.