5 Quick Tools to Help You Spot Pregnancy Misinformation on Social Media
You’re scrolling through Instagram before bed when you see it—a reel claiming pineapple can send you into labor.
Your heart skips a beat.
Not because you believe it immediately, but because now you’re wondering:
Wait... is that true?
Should I be eating more pineapple? Avoiding it completely?
If you’ve ever felt like you’re drowning in conflicting pregnancy advice online,
you’re so not alone.
Social media is flooded with information—some well-meaning, some misleading, and some just plain wrong. A systematic review of health misinformation on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter found that false or misleading health content ranged from 0.2% to 28.8% across different topics (Wang et al., 2019). That kind of noise doesn’t just confuse people—it can lead to delayed care, health anxiety, and misinformed decisions.
And it’s not just the information—it’s the volume. A 2021 study found that high exposure to health-related content on social media can result in information overload, which contributes to anxiety, cognitive fatigue, and a reduced ability to evaluate advice critically (Pang, 2021).
If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t know enough to figure this out,”
I want you to know this:
👉 With some guidance and the right tools, you absolutely can learn to spot what’s reliable—and what’s not—when it comes to pregnancy and birth information.
How do I know? Even though it takes time to build real research skills, a lot of misinformation is easier to spot than you’d think.
Many questionable posts follow patterns:
They don’t cite credible sources.
They rely on fear.
They present one person’s experience as a universal truth.
When you learn to spot these red flags, you can start to trust your ability to make sense of it all.
Here are five tools I use every day to sift through the noise—and you can too:
1. Check the source—is it evidence-based or just opinion?
Evidence-based information comes from a combination of research, clinical expertise, and individual patient needs. Opinion might come from personal experience, which can be meaningful, but isn’t the same as scientific evidence (Straus et al., 2018).
When you come across pregnancy or postpartum advice, ask yourself:
Does it cite any studies or reputable sources?
Who’s sharing this—are they a health professional or researcher?
Is this based on personal experience, or does it reflect a broader understanding of evidence?
In my experience, people who share good information are often happy to provide sources. (And yes, I’m the person who comments, “Do you have a source for this?” I call it being lovingly annoying.)
What’s anecdotal evidence?
It’s someone’s personal experience—like, “This worked for me!”
That doesn’t make it bad, but it’s not the same as empirical evidence from large, well-designed studies (Guillemin et al., 2016).
I wrote a blog post about the difference between anecdotal and empirical evidence—check it out if you want to dig deeper.
Red flag: “Trust me, I’ve done this three times.”
That’s not the same as citing peer-reviewed research.
Reliable info makes space for nuance. Be wary of content that uses words like “always,” “never,” or “guaranteed.”
Real research usually includes:
Benefits and risks
Context for individual differences
Where evidence is still evolving
2. Notice if fear is being used to sell something.
Fear-based messaging is everywhere, and it's often used to push products or services.
If something feels scary or urgent, pause and ask:
“Is this teaching me something—or scaring me into buying something?”
A 2025 media analysis found that wellness influencers on Instagram and TikTok often promote medical tests and supplements using fear tactics, while neglecting to mention potential harms or the lack of supporting evidence (University of Sydney, 2025). Sound familiar?
Understanding risk helps here:
Absolute risk is the actual chance that something will happen.
Relative risk shows how much more (or less) likely it is for one group than another.
Knowing the difference can help you see through exaggerated claims or fear-based messaging.
3. Read the comments (but take them with a grain of salt).
Comments can offer more context, but not all comments are created equal.
Look for:
People who identify as health professionals or researchers
Comments that include sources or nuance
A pattern of feedback (Are others questioning the same thing?)
Just keep in mind: even well-meaning commenters can spread misinformation. One study found that participants had a difficult time distinguishing between accurate and inaccurate health claims, especially when presented in a social media format (Zhao et al., 2020).
Use the comments as clues, not conclusions.
4. Bookmark it—but double-check later.
If something catches your attention, whether it’s exciting or alarming, save it.
But don’t act on it right away.
Come back later and:
Search for the topic using trusted sources (like PubMed or medical orgs like ACOG)
Ask your provider
Or use tools like the ones I teach to dig into the research yourself
Taking time to verify reduces the chance you’ll act on something misleading.
5. You don’t need to be a researcher to think like one.
It’s normal to feel uncertain when advice contradicts itself. But that doesn’t mean you’re not smart enough or capable enough to figure it out.
You already use critical thinking in other areas of life—why not apply that to pregnancy and birth?
Once you learn to evaluate information through an evidence-based lens, you’ll feel more confident, more prepared, and more in control of your decisions.
You are absolutely capable of understanding the evidence.
And when you do?
It changes everything.
So, let’s go back to that pineapple reel.
Instead of spiraling, here’s what it looks like to apply these five tools:
You check the source. It’s someone with no credentials and no citations—just a trending audio and a personal story.
You notice the fear angle. The caption says, “You don’t want to wait too long and risk a hospital induction 😳🍍”—classic fear-based marketing.
You scan the comments. A few people are asking for sources. Someone else shares that the evidence doesn’t support it, and even links to an article.
You bookmark it. You decide to look into labor induction methods later, when you have time and a clear head.
And you pause. You trust yourself enough not to take action right now. Because you know how to think critically. You know how to filter information. You’re building real skills.
That’s what informed confidence looks like.
And you’re already on your way there.
References:
Guillemin, M., Gillam, L., Barnard, E., Stewart, P., Walker, H., & Rosenthal, D. (2016). Why is anecdotal evidence still used in public health? The value of stories in communication. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, 13(4), 517–520. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-016-9741-3
Pang, H. (2021). Mechanism Study of Social Media Overload on Health Self-Efficacy and Anxiety: A Mixed-Methods Study. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 707872. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.707872
Straus, S. E., Glasziou, P., Richardson, W. S., & Haynes, R. B. (2018). Evidence-Based Medicine: How to Practice and Teach It (5th ed.). Elsevier.
University of Sydney. (2025, February 27). Influencers promoting ‘overwhelmingly’ misleading information about medical tests on social media. EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1074797
Wang, Y., McKee, M., Torbica, A., & Stuckler, D. (2019). Systematic Literature Review on the Spread of Health-related Misinformation on Social Media. Social Science & Medicine, 240, 112552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112552
Zhao, Y., Zhang, J., & Wang, Y. (2020). Detecting Health Misinformation in Online Health Communities: A Content-Based Method. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 107, 103461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2020.103461