E124: Pregnancy Prep in the Age of Social Media

Your pregnancy feed can make you feel prepared, or completely panicked, and the difference often has less to do with you and more to do with what the algorithm keeps serving next. We talk about how social media has changed childbirth education, from the genuinely helpful parts (free access to educators, visuals of labor positions, and support communities) to the stuff that quietly warps expectations (fear-based stories, extreme outcomes, and nonstop comparison).

We dig into why doom scrolling during pregnancy is so common, how rare events get amplified until they feel “normal,” and why that can raise anxiety right when you’re trying to build confidence for labor, birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum recovery. I also share a real example of the “freezer mom” pressure, where viral oversupply content can make a normal milk supply feel like failure.

Then we get practical: how to tell the difference between evidence-based guidance and noise, why a big following does not equal real expertise, and what to watch for when sponsorships and marketing are baked into “advice.” We close with simple strategies to intentionally curate your feed, verify information with multiple sources, and use your emotional response as a compass for what belongs in your world right now.

If you want social media to support your birth plan instead of stressing you out, press play. Subscribe, share with a friend who’s pregnant, and leave a review so more families can find the show.

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Show Credits

Host: Angie Rosier 
Music: Michael Hicks 
Photographer: Toni Walker
Episode Artwork: Nick Greenwood 
Producer: Gillian Rosier Frampton
Voiceover: Ryan Parker

Transcript

Welcome And Why This Matters

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Welcome to the Ordinary Doula Podcast with Angie Roger, hosted by Hatched and Latched. Here, we explore the many layers of pregnancy, labor, birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum life through the lens of more than 20 years in a busy doula practice, supporting thousands of families. Whether you are preparing for birth, navigating feeding, or adjusting to life with a new baby, this podcast is designed to offer practical knowledge, thoughtful conversation, and empowering support for the real experiences of parenthood.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Hello and welcome to the Ordinary Doula podcast. My name is Angie Rosier. I am your host and happy to spend some time with you today. Today I want to uh look at a topic that um, well, you know, I think all the topics are fascinating, but this one has gotten my attention a bit lately, and I've seen it come up in a few different areas. I've seen it come up with my clients, I've seen it come up in conferences, it's a concern among um professionals, it's a concern among people who are providing services for those pregnant, who are giving birth, having babies in the postpartum period with breastfeeding advice. And that is social media and the how that impacts uh birth education, how those resources um might influence uh the people consuming them. So um happy to have you with us here today as we kind of tackle this interesting subject. Um, this this phenomenon of um social media is has changed a lot of things in our world. Um, but specifically to childbirth, I want to kind of talk about how that has changed things. Now, even 15 years ago, 20 years ago, um, people were getting most of their education and their preparation from classes, from books, from their providers, from like face-to-face communication and conversations with family members. Um, and things have shifted a lot, of course. Our access to information is so easy. Um, and many people spend a lot of time, um, especially when they're pregnant, they're focused on information about that, and algorithms know that, right? Um, so they're looking through birth stories, educational videos, influencer content, um, footage from the internet, things on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, all of the different platforms have plenty, plenty of material about these topics. Um, and some of that is really great and really helpful. I'm finding people are coming to me in my classes, my private clients, far more knowledgeable and educated than they used to many, many years ago. Um, so that's cool. Um, but some of the information people are getting is misleading or um misplaced sometimes. Some of it can create some unnecessary re expectations or disappointments or fears um because of where the information is coming from, coming from. So,

Social Media Makes Birth Education Accessible

SPEAKER_00 3:20

how can we use these sources as a tool, a helpful tool without letting it become a source of confusion or anxiety? So that's what I want to kind of look at today. So there are so many good things about the vast multitude of information that is available today. Um, this these platforms have made birth education way more accessible than ever before. So we got free educational content all over the place, right? Um, we have access to experts, to childbirth educators, to lactation consultants, to what they know, what they have experienced, to midwives, to do as there's visuals of some of these things, right? We're seeing birth videos, obviously, like um birth videos are so accessible. Now you can watch all kinds of birth videos before you ever have a baby, and also exposure to different birthing options. So these are being talked about a whole lot, right? Um, and there's also community. We can find community if you're having multiples, if you're having a V back, if you're an older mom or a teen mom. Um, we can also find online communities that are more specific to your situation. Okay, so let's, as an example, pretty standard first-time mom might be in a rural area, so she doesn't have childbirth classes available to her, but now she can learn about all kinds of things, breathing techniques, labor positions, basics on breastfeeding. All this can be done from a rural location, um, from her handheld device on her couch, right? So access is awesome. Um, so it can be very empowering and give a parents um information they may not have received otherwise. So, what people may not realize though is these aren't super designed, like these platforms, right? The whole driving force behind the platforms, their main purpose of existence is not to educate you. They are designed, however, to take your time, to take your attention, and they will do that in whatever ways they want to, right? So there's some really, really good stuff out there, and there's some really not so helpful stuff out there, and these algorithms know that, right? They sprinkle all kinds of stuff in together and they reward emotional content. So a content that is more extreme, right? The extreme stories get um more clicks, more views. Um, fear-based stuff, people are kind of glued to that, especially around childbirth. If you think of our whole society's um approach to childbirth, it's already fearful. And then when we add fear-based stories and content to that, it does it can spread really quickly. Some things that are very rare get a lot of attention where they may not be probable that a lot of people are really going to deal with that. So you see an emergency birth video, a baby born in a car. We've all seen that, right? Um, some of that honestly cracks me up. Um, but all of a sudden you get filled, your feed gets more filled with extreme birth stories, traumatic birth stories. So you get this impression that these are happen, these outcomes are happening all the time. And likely they are throughout the world, yes, but in incredibly small numbers compared to the births, the type of births that are happening. So many births are um pretty long, you know, they can take some time. So um, doom scrolling during pregnancy is a thing. I have all the time. When I meet with my clients in their homes, they're like, I gotta quit looking at the internet. I can tell that they have, they have, they have increased anxiety by what they're learning, what they're seeing. So when what you see online may not really represent what is typical, and how do you know that, right? So a lot of people will compare, they're gonna compare

Algorithms Reward Fear And Extremes

SPEAKER_00 6:55

their expectations or their birth or their um preconceived notions of what their birth should be like to other people's, right? So there's a lot of comparison before we even get to the playing ground. Um, there's a lot of comparison going on. They'll compare length of labor, type of birth experience, they'll compare breastfeeding journeys, postpartum journeys. Um, I have a client I met with a few months ago, and I spent, I did a lot of lactation work with her, and it just broke my heart because um, and and she was wise to it, you know, she's like, Yeah, I gotta quit looking at social media, but she had seen on social media that there are people, and it's true, that have one and two freezers full of frozen milk in their garage. They have to buy a new freezer. Um, I've seen that myself, right? Like it is true. And she thought she would be, and she wanted to be a freezer mom. That's what she called it. She's like, Oh, I wanted to be a freezer mom. Um, and turns out she was not even quite a full producer of milk. So comparing, right? She was like comparing what what she wanted her journey to be like, she did a great job. She worked very hard and and um was very successful in the things that she did. So um, however, as she has these stories of freezer moms in the back of her mind, that can be frustrating. Some people see that birth can happen in three hours. Sometimes for some people it can, or people never needed medication, or um, the latch after delivery and thereon out was perfect and immediate. So, yes, those things happen, but the reality is that every labor, every baby, every breastfeeding journey, every postpartum recovery, every every every situation is gonna be pretty unique, right? No two are gonna be identical. That is, I can I can tell you that for sure. And success looks different for different people. So keep that in mind as you're finding information online. Um, that success is there's lots of different versions of success depending on who you are, um, what your expectations are, what your preparation is, what your social and societal background is, what your culture about birth is, right? Um, and healthy outcomes can have so many different journeys to get to healthy outcomes. So let's dive in a little bit about um experts, like real true expert advice and um noise, like a lot of noise, right? So having a large following may not automatically mean make someone an expert. When somebody has a lot of content out there or it's getting a lot of views, you got to look at their background, right? Like, what are these persons' credentials? Have they had two babies in their life? Awesome. And they just talk a lot about it. Um, is their information evidence based, or are they just like in my experience, and they have a flashy, awesome way of sharing their

Comparison Traps From Birth To Milk Supply

SPEAKER_00 9:45

um information? Do they have legit sources? Like, where's their uh knowledge coming from? I watched uh some clips recently in a conference I was at of some influencers. I couldn't even tell you who they are, couldn't even tell you what they were talking about, but it was definitely baby birth, pregnancy related, that time of life. They might have been in the postpartum time of life or pregnancy, I don't remember. But it was phenomenal as the whole point of this was to see sponsorship. And in every video clip, obviously they scripted it for us, every video clip there was a canister of formula somewhere in sight of a video clip. And we weren't even talking, maybe we were talking, we were in a laundry room one time. Um, the video is taking place in a laundry room, and the mom was talking about baby laundry or whatever, and there on the on the shelf was formula. Um and that and they showed us clip after clip of videos where there were sponsors slid in pretty sneakily to um the information that these influencers are sharing. So are they selling something? Are they being sponsored by someone or something? How credible is their advice or their information to you, right? And weeding through that. So some that I love are people who are experts. There are plenty of childbirth educators, labor and delivery nurses, nurse midwives, OBs, IBCLCs, doula's who do have great content out there. Um, and and they're gonna know what they're talking about. They just didn't they didn't have two babies that they talk a lot about, but they've hopefully seen this hundreds and thousands of times. Um, some of my favorite content does come from experts, right? The um and what they see every day in their life. I love why, like whether it's a cardiologist, a pediatrician, um, whoever I'm interested in in my life at the time, um, those great sources, right? We enjoy them and they're they're fun to digest. So be cautious of your of your sources. Verify information if you need to, right? So do some fact checking of your own. Um, take some of these things to your healthcare provider, check them there as well. Like, all right, what are you seeing? Um, I'm hearing this. Probably they're gonna hear this from several people, honestly. So look at several, not just one, but look at several different sources. When something gets your interest, kind of check yourself and say, why? Why is this catching my interest? What is it firing up in me? Emma, is it new information? Is it firing on an emotion of mine, whether that's fear or excitement? Um, but why is it getting your attention? And then create for yourself, based on that, some healthy social media strategies, right? So you can kind of obviously script your feed. One of the best things you can do during pregnancy is kind of curate it intentionally, right? Curate your feed so that it's gonna feed you things that are gonna be good for you. So follow evidence-based birth educators, right? Um, unfollow fear-inducing accounts. So is it if it trips up your emotions and you're firing on all cylinders all of a sudden, like, hey, say why? Why is this? Maybe do a little cleaning up of your social media life there.

Influencers, Credentials, And Hidden Sponsorships

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Limit scrolling when you feel a certain way, right? If you're feeling absolutely utterly exhausted and you know you're just gonna dive and be there for an hour or two hours and just eat up everything fed to you, prioritize like when you do that, right? Um, if you're super nervous, if you've just come from an appointment and this happens all the time. People get news that they now have gestational diabetes or their blood pressure is creeping up. They're gonna research it, they're gonna look it up. So they're already feeling anxious, and then they kind of feed into that. So be cautious about when, even when you look at things. Seek balanced perspectives, right? So go out of your way to find a different way to look at things. Um, look up something you don't want, look up something you don't agree with, look up something um that's totally different than what you're interested in. That can be kind of interesting as well. This can apply to a lot of things as I'm thinking about it, but we're talking specifically for birth, pregnancy, um, labor, postpartum breastfeeding. Um, and then check yourself and say, how do you feel after consuming this content? Do I feel more empowered, more informed, more confident, or am I feeling more fearful? Do I have a like a sickening feeling in my gut sometimes? Um, and kind of see where that rabbit hole, that journey takes you and be aware of that, right? Your emotional response is a really good indicator of whether this account is good for you or not. You can let that kind of be your guide. So, wrapping up here today, I kind of want to reiterate that these platforms, social media and all its costumes, is not all good and it's not all bad. It's just a tool. And tools work best when used appropriately. So I want you to be intentional on how you, just for you, right? How you use this tool. Like any tool, um, it can, it, gosh, it does a lot of work for you, right? So my hope is that you will find a way for you to use social media to become empowered, to become informed, become connected, find those communities that are gonna support you, that are gonna empower you, um, and but not overwhelm you, right? There's a fine balance. And you kind of, that's what our our one of our roles in this world we live in today is to kind of find that balance for ourselves. Remember that your birth story, your birth journey, your postpartum journey, your breastfeeding journey does not need to look like anyone else's. In fact, I can guarantee it's not. Um, you don't need a viral experience. I mean, a lot maybe you want one. Um, you might not get one. There's birth is pretty boring a lot of times. On the side note, it's always fascinating as well. Um, you don't need a perfect birth plan. Um, what matters is making informed decisions. And when you are a part of that process, when you're a team member, when you surround yourself with trusted support, um, and that's tangible support a lot of times, right? Not just um someone you scroll through, but someone you can actually touch and talk to. And as you plan that to welcome your baby into your life and into

Curate Your Feed And Check Your Gut

SPEAKER_00 15:35

your world in a way that's safe and meaningful to you and your family, that is where true empowerment comes from. So call to action if you will please do your best to make your social media um influence, the influence from your social media positive for yourself. Um let it stretch you in in new ways, but not in ways that are gonna be negative or fearful. That has a lot to do. I see that all the time. People are like, but I saw this and I saw that. Um, I see a lot with colostrum collecting, I see it a lot with um starting labor. Um, there's a lot of things out there that are be driven by marketing, obviously, honestly. Like they just people want to make a buck, right? Um, that's the driving force in so much of the information that we're getting. Um, so please look at your sources, look at them wisely, and come out of that, come out of your social media scrolling and preparation, um, feeling enlightened, feeling empowered, and feeling informed. And you will have a better experience for it. Hopefully, this has been helpful for you today. Good luck on your information gathering. Um, there's a lot of information out there, a lot of information, and our job as parents is to take that information, much of which is absolutely conflicting from experts, from influencers, and weed through that and decide amongst all the information what works for you, what feels best to you, what's going to work in your particular situation in the reality of what that is at this time. So, good luck to you. We're here to support you, be your cheerleader. Um, thanks for hanging out with us today and spending time with the Ordinary Doula podcast. My name is Angie Rogier, and I'm glad I got to spend this time with you. Please, today go out and make an awesome connection with a real human. Um, touch someone, hold their hand, look into their eyes. We all need each other, so please make a great connection today, and I'll see you next time.

Closing Encouragement And Real Connection

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Thank you for listening to the Ordinary Doula Podcast with Angie Roger, hosted by HatchdenLatch. You can find episode credits in the show notes and more information by visiting HatchdenLatch.com. If this podcast has been helpful to you, please leave a rating wherever you listen to your podcasts. Your support helps us continue having thoughtful conversations about birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum life. Be sure to tune in next time as we continue exploring the many experiences, questions, and realities surrounding the journey into parenthood.