The pressure to be a perfect parent now extends to childbirth

Getty Images; Pedro Nekoi for BI

A few weeks ago, after a long day of work and several wrestling matches with my 30-pound toddler, I collapsed onto my couch and opened my phone. By then I was in my third trimester, and my approaching labor was on my mind. And my phone knew it.

Before I realized what was happening, I was watching the kind of video that will be immediately recognizable to anyone who's been pregnant in the age of Instagram and TikTok. In it, a "birth trainer" demonstrates the appropriate way to relax while pregnant.