Videos that list little-known pregnancy symptoms are racking up tens of millions of views on TikTok, and some of the most-watched ones tell women to prepare for symptoms so bizarre they seem false — and that's because they are, doctors told Insider.
Millions of people have watched TikTok videos about "cons list" to being pregnant and giving birth, which includes warnings of teeth falling out and sweat turning blue. Pregnancy is already a scary subject many people are uninformed about, making it the perfect topic for sensational social media videos to flourish, said Shannon Clark, a double board-certified OBGYN and maternal-fetal medicine specialist.
"The viewers are left to think, 'Well because this video has 2 million views, it must be true,'" Clark told Insider. "Unfortunately, a lot of validation comes from how many likes and views a video gets, so it really doesn't matter whether the content of the video is accurate, unfortunately."
Misinformation about childbirth also detracts from the very real problems about giving birth in the US, said Nicole Calloway Rankins, an OBGYN and host of the popular podcast All About Pregnancy & Birth.
The US has the highest maternal mortality rate compared to other wealthy countries, and Black women are three to four times more likely to die from childbirth than are white women.
"This is a little bit frustrating because it feels like social media gives attention to things for sensational sake, without paying attention to some of the more urgent things like the way people may be mistreated in our system during pregnancy," Rankins told Insider.
Clark and Rankins broke down some of the most-watched — and most untrue — videos about pregnancy claims running rampant on TikTok, while providing science-backed information about what body changes a pregnant person might actually experience.