Though it is generally believed that overweight women tend to give birth to overweight babies, it may not be so any more --- with a new diabetes drug apparently playing a notable role in preventing the babies of obese mothers- to-be from being born fat!

The Daily Mail has recently reported that, going by the results of a new clinical trial, obesity in unborn babies is controllable in the mother's womb, thanks to a thrice-a-day dose of the metformin drug during pregnancy.

Metformin, which is a ‘safe’ drug used by diabetics, helps bring about a reduction in the blood sugar levels of pregnant women; thereby saving their children from a lifetime of weight problems – the seeds of which are supposedly sown in the womb!

As a part of a new metformin-related study in the UK, Liverpool Women's Hospital, along with two other hospitals, are talking part in a trial, in which 400 obese but non-diabetic pregnant women are being recruited to test the benefits of metformin in controlling obesity in unborn babies.

It is also being hoped that the trial - which is being led by the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian; and for which the eligible women will be given information at their booking appointment - may also cut the need for caesarean sections as well as reduce the odds of pre-eclampsia, a potentially terminal complication of pregnancy!