Rekubit Exchange:‘Pregnancy nose’ videos go viral. Here's the problem with the trend.

When Dara Natale,Rekubit Exchange known as “Mama D” on TikTok, was pregnant with her first child, comments started flooding in on her posts: “I can tell you’re pregnant because of your nose.”

Natale was confused and told her followers, “I just have a big nose, which I’ve known my whole life, and that’s fine.”

But when she and her husband were looking through old photos from her pregnancy, they realized her followers were right — her nose was a completely different size. 

Natale posted their revelation to TikTok last week, writing, “When you and your husband were blind to your pregnancy nose and can’t believe that’s what you looked like.” 

The video has accumulated nearly twenty million views, and negative reactions like, “Pregnancy nose is (one) of my top reasons to not getting pregnant” have populated the comments section. 

What is 'pregnancy nose'? 

“Pregnancy nose” describes swelling that can alter the appearance of a person’s nose during pregnancy, according to Dr. Jennifer Lincoln, a board-certified OBGYN and author of “Let's Talk About Down There.” People may also notice that their nose runs more frequently, according to Dr. Franziska Haydanek, an OBGYN and online health educator.

Lincoln and Haydanek say this is completely normal, and occurs due to the natural increase in body fluid in your blood cells that accompanies pregnancy. 

“It’s about a 50 percent increase from our nonpregnant baseline,” Haydanek says. “So that causes all of the tissues in our body to swell.”

Hormonal changes during pregnancy can also cause the blood vessels in the nose to dilate, according to Lincoln, and can cause your nose to look broader or larger. 

When does 'pregnancy nose' occur, and how long does it last? 

It's unlikely that pregnancy nose will have permanently change your face, as bodily swelling will decrease after pregnancy, according to Hydandek.

“It can be noticeable in the third trimester as this is when lots of pregnancy-related changes peak,” Lincoln says. “And it almost always gets better after giving birth.”

While pregnancy nose is not a cause to worry, Lincoln advises “checking in with your healthcare provider if you notice swelling in other areas like your entire face and hands, or if it’s associated with symptoms like headaches, vision changes or pain where your liver is.”

These can be signs of preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication related to high blood pressure. 

However, Haydanek says other symptoms, such as leg or vaginal swelling, can be normal during pregnancy.

Body shaming and pregnancy 

Natale was bullied for “having a big nose” growing up, but she "grew thick skin” and feels unbothered by it now. However, it was “triggering” to have people comment on her appearance during her pregnancy. 

After posting about her "pregnancy nose blindness," she got “pretty beat up in the comments” by people saying her “nose is still a big size.”

Strangers also told her that her husband had been lying to her and “wasn’t blind to it.”

What bothered Natale more than comments on her own appearance was the thought that other women may take them to heart. She hopes that they can find comfort in her attempts to normalize the bodily changes that occur during pregnancy. 

“Whether it’s a negative or positive aspect, we’ve created a beautiful little human being,” Natale adds. “If my nose had to be big for three of the nine months that I was pregnant, then that’s what it is, and then it goes back to normal right after.”

Meanwhile, she also shared that her husband would tell her that he had “never been more attracted” to her throughout her pregnancy. 

“I’m glad he was supportive and I’m glad he didn’t call out negative things on my body,” she says, adding that she hopes all women can get the same type of reaction from their husbands or partners. 

Haydanek also says it's important for people to be vulnerable about their experiences.

"A lot of people make pregnancy seem like this beautiful, happy time. In reality, a lot of people are very uncomfortable," she says. "Helping normalize the discomfort or those changes in their bodies that they don't like makes people feel less alone."

The fixation on 'pregnancy nose' is rooted in idealized beauty standards

In another video, TikToker Becky Hathaway shared before and afters of her pregnancy nose and received similarly negative comments. One user called for the “girl with the list,” referencing a viral account that documents hundreds of reasons to remain childfree. Other users shared that their normal nose looks exactly like the pregnancy noses this trend seemed to be shaming. 

“Pregnant or not pregnant, women are always held to those types of body standards,” Natale says. 

The “typically accepted, idolized nose” is small and “very European,” according to Lincoln. 

“Historically, a broader or larger nose has not always been considered beautiful and that can lead to pregnant people with a pregnancy nose feeling distressed or undesirable,” she says. 

“I hope that we can reframe this and understand (that) we don't have to subscribe to outdated ideals of beauty,” Lincoln adds. “Especially when we are busy growing a human.”