A TikTok OB-GYN breaks down 10 pregnancy scenes in movies and TV

• OB-GYN Alexandra Rodriguez Garcia looks at 10 pregnancy scenes from popular shows and movies.

• She rates "Jane the Virgin" S1E20 (2015), "Scrubs" S5E16 (2006), and "WandaVision" S1E4 (2021).
• She also breaks down "Knocked Up" (2007), "Friends" S8E22 (2002).

Following is a transcript of the video.

- Both: Hee-hee-hoo, hee-hee-hoo.

The whole breathing technique that she's doing, with the "hee-hee-hoo," I've never actually heard that in my career.

Hi, I am Dr. Ali Rodriguez. I am an OB-GYN. Today we're going to be looking at pregnancy scenes in movies and in TV and judging them for realism.

"Jane the Virgin" S1E20 (2015)

Nurse: That's it. The doctor will be right in.

Jane: Thank you.

Rafael: Thank you.

You know, I think they did do a good job in this one in making the baby bump look real. I think, I mean, it's believable. I think she looks pregnant to me. Let's check again in two weeks. How big the belly gets. When we do fundal height, that's the measurement from the pubic bone all the way to the top of the uterus. The top of the uterus is called the fundus, which is why it's called fundal height. That is something that's typically not done standing up. It would be very uncomfortable and very difficult to do, because the more, you know, obviously the bigger you get in pregnancy, it's going to be harder to get down to that pubic bone accurately from the squatting position that she's doing. Instead of the belly growing, like, outward, we'd expect it to grow almost up, because the uterus and baby are growing up.

But currently the baby is breech. Head is up here, tush is down here. And the baby needs to be head down for a natural delivery.

I think the doctor does do a good job of explaining what that means and almost not to worry at this point. Throughout pregnancies, babies will turn from breech to cephalic, and they'll kind of do flips and twirl around in there, and that's OK. Typically by the point that, you know, a patient is 33 weeks, that's when we really want baby to kind of start moving towards head down, because, like she mentions at the end of the clip, the bigger baby gets and the closer you are to full term, they start running out of room. So if they haven't flipped by then, it's unlikely for them to flip on their own, just because they just don't have the space anymore. It looks very real. She looks pregnant to me, and I think they did a good job.

So, yeah, I'd say 7 out of 10.

Rating: 7/10

"Knocked Up" (2007)

Get out! Oh, no.

[screams]

Certainly birth can be traumatic. You know, a patient comes in completely dilated or, you know, having really bad contractions at home. That's when it can get a little traumatic, but usually it's really not traumatic. Obviously it makes it more entertaining and funny to have it be this way.

Push! One, two, three.

I always tell all of my patients, you know, pushing and going through labor is a lot of work, and you are going to be pushing pretty hard. In order for it to be, I guess, effective, it's not necessarily how hard you're pushing, but are you using the right muscles? So, as funny as it sounds, the same muscles we use to go to the bathroom are the same muscles we use to push out a baby.

[screams]

Good!

Usually when we see clips in movies, you always have that blue sheet kind of draped over the legs. And, honestly, that's rarely ever used. I don't think I've ever used it in any of the deliveries. The patient always has a hospital gown on, definitely. Oh, that's a pretty big baby. I'd say the average size or weight of a newborn is anywhere between 6 to 7 pounds, and they're usually about, like, 19 to 20 inches long. This baby to me appears to be much bigger than that. I don't think they're actually using a newborn for these scenes. They definitely show, like, this clean baby, and here it looks like they've done a little bit of makeup. But typically babies are born with something called vernix, but this vernix, it almost serves as a protective covering over fetus' skin when they're in utero. It almost looks like a really white, thick lotion. And I think that's what they tried to kind of put the makeup on the baby. As you can see, there's white little chunks. Think of it as like a baby lotion. So it's OK to kind of rub it into their skin.

But I am gonna give it to them. I think they did a good job of trying to put the makeup on the baby. I'd give it a 5 out of 10.

Rating: 5/10

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" (2011)

One of the first presenting symptoms of early pregnancy can be nausea and vomiting. A lot of my patients, they'll cook a whole meal, and then they sit down to eat it and they just want to vomit. You have that surge of estrogen, progesterone, human -- or I guess hCG, which is a pregnancy hormone, increases, and all of that, you know, there's a heightened sense of smell in women who are pregnant.

[ripping]

[Bella screaming]

Seeing this much blood is not concerning. Seeing a vampire do the C-section with his teeth is very impressive and concerning. But, yeah, typically childbirth is a process that is very bloody. We obviously don't want them to lose too much, which is why we still monitor vitals. And when you're closer to that 40 weeks' gestation, the uterus and the baby are getting about 450 milliliters of blood in a minute. After delivery, you still have all of that blood that's pumping to the uterus. So if there's some sort of, you know, issue or something going on, that's a lot of blood that a patient's going to lose in a matter of seconds. Simply cannot handle this one, this gets a 1 out of 10. This is just too much, over the top, and very unrealistic.

Rating: 1/10

"Scrubs" S5E16 (2006)

I just took the pregnancy test. Just tell me when a minute's up.

I just put some pizza rolls in the microwave oven. The minute that bad boy dings, we're good to go.

I think it'd be a good distraction from it because, you know, it's sometimes a moment that can be very nerve-wracking and cause a lot of anxiety. So I think distracting yourself with something is a good idea. By the way, next time, buy a name-brand pregnancy test. Not that cheap generic one. Some of them are definitely advertised to find out at the earliest point in pregnancy. And that just simply means those ones may be a little bit more sensitive to the level of pregnancy hormone. Most of these pregnancy tests that you buy at the store, supermarket, or pharmacy, they're pushing, like, 99-percentile accuracy. So they're usually pretty good.

Wait a second. Results in three minutes.

How long should you wait? Each brand and everything like that will vary. Some of them are a minute. Some of them, you know, three minutes. Just really depends, but make sure you read the packaging correctly so that something like this doesn't happen. You know, I think they did a great job. 9 out of 10, everything was pretty accurate. I think it's fun and obviously hysterical that he finds the box and is like, "Oh, my goodness, three minutes."

Rating: 9/10

"What to expect when you're expecting" (2012)

I have to sneeze.

[sneezes]

[baby cries]

Wow. That's one baby out.

Actually, this is something that is very possible. I've had deliveries, especially when it's someone who's a multigravida, which means she's had multiple pregnancies. The more pregnancies you have, typically the faster the labor course is. And so I've had women who, you know, it's their fifth, sixth baby, and they come in and, you know, once the baby's there and crowning, they just cough, and baby comes out. If this were her first pregnancy, probably not. Your body's never done it before, so it would be very difficult.

Push. Here we go.

Sometimes I find myself, like, pushing almost for them, because you just, you know, you want to try and help. What ends up happening a lot of the times though that I've seen, when the partners are like this, it bothers the patient sometimes. And so they'll kind of be like, "Go away," or, you know, "Don't stand next to me!"

You pull out this bar, and it connects to the bottom, like around the table. And so the purpose of that is instead of you kind of laying on your back with your legs up in stirrups, this one kind of simulates a position of squatting.

Doctor: We need to prepare for a C-section.

No, no, no, no. No, I have a birth plan. I want to push. I want to push.

She had this birth plan, but it seems like an emergency's going on. The baby's heart rate was dropping. So at that point it would be an indication for a C-section. There is kind of this saying on labor and delivery that if you have this rigid and set birth plan, that it's going to end up in a C-section. We're not saying it as a mean thing, but I think it's important that when you are pregnant and going in to have a baby, you have to go with a mindset of, yes, this is the birth plan that you want, but you have to be able to be flexible to change, because a lot of it is out of our control. You know, in this scene, where the baby's heart rate's dropping, obviously no one wants to see that. They did a pretty good job with showing the different scenarios that can take place. 9 out of 10. They did good.

Rating: 9/10

"Wandavision" S1E4 (2021)

Wanda: I can't do this.

Yes you can.

I can't.

When, you know, she's obviously looking up and saying, "I can't do this," and kind of panicking, that is extremely accurate. It's almost like they go into this, like, panic mode. I always like to tell them that, yes, it is extremely painful, this is temporary, and they're going to feel so much better once they deliver.

Both: Hee-hee-hoo, hee-hee-hoo.

The whole breathing technique that she's doing, with the "hee-hee-hoo," I've never actually heard that in my career.

It's just good to take good, big, deep breaths, you know, in the nose, out through the mouth, kind of stay a little bit more calm. Laying flat on their back on the floor, I don't think this is realistic. I don't find this position to be comfortable. Most women, whether they're doing home births or in the hospital, a lot of the times they're still either squatting, they can kind of be on their back, but not flat, almost just kind of propped up, almost like you're doing, like, ab workout and you're kind of doing that crunch position. I would say that's more comfortable than just being flat on your back. It's going to be very hard to breathe and be very uncomfortable, because that's a lot of weight that's just kind of sitting on your chest.

[baby crying]

Babies actually do cry as soon as they're born, and we want them to cry. When they're in utero, their lungs aren't working, essentially. So once they are born, they're kind of squeezed on their way out of the birth canal, and they give that first cry. It actually helps them kind of expand everything and make sure everything's functioning. Sometimes they can swallow a little bit of the amniotic fluid, so by them kind of crying and coughing it out, it's actually really helpful. That baby is spotless. That baby is very, very clean immediately. Again, not something that is realistic at all. So I'd have to say either 1 or 2 out of 10.

Rating: 2/10

"The Back-Up Plan" (2010)

Cravings in pregnancy, very, very common. Especially in the first trimester, it can start that early. And then the cravings can kind of change as the pregnancy progresses. I have heard some very interesting combinations of food. A lot of pickle juice, or pickles with, like, chocolate, I've heard, which does not sound good to me at all. Go ahead and treat yourself. But every now and then, yeah, it's not going to hurt anything.

[Stan clears throat]

If you're craving a deli sandwich or anything like that, it's important that you make sure that the meat is hot. The big thing is avoiding any sort of raw meat or raw fish. Obviously she's overindulging, but I think it's cute. It's funny. So I'm gonna say 8 out of 10.

Rating: 8/10

"Junior" (1994)

[heartbeat pumping]

That's the heartbeat. 140 beats a minute, perfectly normal. When we're looking at fetal heart rate, what's normal is anything between 110 beats per minute and 160 beats per minute. So a fetus' heartbeat is definitely much faster, and that is completely normal and healthy. Even in the first trimester, that heartbeat can start pushing 180 and 190 beats per minute, and that's OK. The sonogram ultrasound does look realistic. Probably not his hand movements on the actual belly, but the actual picture does look good. That little string of pearls. That's the spine, yeah. He said, "Oh, look, the string of pearls." That is not something we typically use to describe the spine. Oddly enough, we do kind of describe it as a railroad track, because you can kind of see two, you know, it looks just like a railroad track. You gotta move back in with me. I want you off your feet as much as possible. And no going to the lab. This is actually a recommendation that is outdated. But before, doing bed rest and having someone stay off of their feet was kind of recommended all the time. Then a lot of these patients started developing blood clots in their legs or in their lungs. And so they did a lot of research on it, and actually having someone who's pregnant on bed rest is, you know, increased risk of blood clots. The whole premise and plot of this movie, of having Arnold Schwarzenegger trying out this fertility drug and then consequently ending up pregnant, would be extremely unrealistic. The ultrasound, I thought, was very realistic, but as something that, is it going to be possible now? Probably not. So I would say probably a 3 or 4 out of 10.

Rating: 3/10

"Friends" S8E22 (2002)

That's not enough.

What are you doing?!

I'm getting that baby out of you!

There's no real good data as to any of these things that, maybe they're old wives' tales or things that you hear that are gonna provoke labor. Is it gonna hurt anything to try? No, not really. If you feel comfortable and you find a comfortable position for you and you want to try and have sex to see, why not? The cervix in pregnancy, which is the bottom part of the uterus, tends to be pretty sensitive in pregnancy. So anything that's going to touch the cervix or anything like that, that can start cramping and contractions. Oh, no, no. I think my water just broke. The majority of women, their water doesn't break spontaneously like we see in the movies. This one's not quite as dramatic. Most women, you know, contractions start, and their water just doesn't break. It'll break once they're in the hospital.

Ross: OK, I got the pillow. Got the bag. You got the keys?

Rachel: I got the keys.

I don't think there's any sense for you to panic and, you know, rush and things like that. But you certainly have time to carefully grab your bags and, you know, be rational with your decisions, get to the hospital safely. I think they do a really good job, and let's say ... 7, 6 out of 10?

Rating: 6/10

"Baby Mama" (2008)

This is your folic acid, and this is your prenatal vitamin.

You're serious about this?

Definitely, this is the most ridiculous size prenatal vitamin I have ever seen. If you have them that are this big, please buy yourself another brand, because this is just too much. They're typically just, you know, a regular vitamin, pill size. They even come in a gummy formation now, which has all the same nutrients. It's actually encouraged and recommended to start taking a prenatal vitamin, I mean, really for all women who are of reproductive age. Even if you're not planning on becoming pregnant, it actually helps the development of a fetus.

I can't do it. I got it.

It's going -- no.

It is really funny, but seeing a prenatal vitamin that's that big, not a thing. Or it shouldn't be a thing. So I would say 4 out of 10.

Rating: 4/10