First-time mother reveals her nose ballooned by a third during pregnancy – and it’s still not quite the same two years later

A mother was shocked when her nose ‘grew like Pinocchio’ during pregnancy, adding that she thought it was just an ‘old wives tale’. 

Gabriela Garrido, from Hackney, east London, was shocked to discover that her nose grew by a third by the time she reached the nine-month mark.

The 36-year-old, who got married eight months after giving birth, said her bigger nose was noticeable in wedding snaps.

Two years on, the mother-of-one admits her nose still ‘isn’t the same’ but that it is deflating with time.

Gabriela shared before and after photos of her ‘pregnancy nose’ on TikTok that racked up almost half a million views.

The post, captioned ‘one of the many joys of pregnancy’, shows Gabriela’s nose pre-pregnancy compared to now, adding that it looked a lot ‘wider and more round’ at 37 weeks pregnant.

Gabriela said: ‘My nose was wider and more round. It filled up as if someone pumped it like a balloon.

‘I don’t know if it doubled in size but maybe by one third. It was like Pinocchio when his nose grows out.

‘It was around six months into my pregnancy, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was. I felt my face just looked a bit more swollen.

‘In that last month I thought my nose definitely looked different, especially after comparing it to old pictures.

‘I got married when my son was eight months old. I remember that was one of the times I looked at the pictures and thought “Wow. My nose is still different after pregnancy”.

‘It’s now two years since I’ve had my son. I don’t think it’s exactly the same but it probably looks similar to what it looked like pre-pregnancy.’ 

‘Pregnancy nose’ is believed to result from an increase in hormones, which leads to the dilation of blood vessels and creates more blood flow to certain areas of the body.

This increase in size is usually only temporary and most women find their noses return to their normal size a few weeks after delivery – however it has led to the condition being compared to cartoon character Pinocchio on TikTok.

The business owner, whose son is now two years old, said she thought ‘pregnancy nose’ was an old wives tale and was stunned when it happened to her.

Gabriela said: ‘I’m Dominican. In Latin culture it’s a running joke that women’s noses get bigger when they’re pregnant.

The business owner, whose son is now two years old, said she thought ‘pregnancy nose’ was an old wives tale and was stunned when it happened to her.

‘I always thought it was an old wives’ tale. When it happened to me I thought there was some truth to this.

‘It did feel a bit strange looking in the mirror feeling that you don’t look the same but I wouldn’t say I felt bad about the way I looked.

‘My approach was more to be kind to myself and accept that when you’re pregnant, especially with your first baby, life is inevitably going to change so much.

‘It wouldn’t be fair to me to feel negative about it.’

Now Gabriela is sharing her nose transformation journey to normalise it for other women experiencing the same thing during pregnancy.

Gabriela said: ‘I just wanted to normalise these changes that happened.

‘A lot of people talk about the pregnancy glow but I think it’s normal to not feel glowing.

‘You might not feel nicer, you might feel a bit strange. Society’s expectation right now and the standard beauty is to have a thin nose.

‘All noses are beautiful. It’s okay to feel strange about your new nose but it’s not ugly.’

Despite being flooded with kind comments commending her for sharing the snaps, Gabriela said she was ‘taken aback’ by one rude comment that read: ‘This makes me consider getting a vasectomy’, which she’s since deleted.

Gabriela said: ‘There are a lot of men out there who have very unreasonable expectations and opinions of women and what they look like when they’re pregnant.

‘I was taken aback by how someone could feel entitled to comment something like that about a woman’s appearance and suggest it would be better for a woman not to get pregnant because her appearance might change.

‘I didn’t want to risk other pregnant women seeing the comment and think that others could be thinking that as well about them.’

Many users online praised Gabriela for sharing the changes.

One user wrote: ‘Still the prettiest.’

Another commented: ‘I guess it’s because you have more blood in your body during pregnancy which causes swelling.’

Others expressed concerns about developing a ‘pregnancy nose’.

One wrote said: ‘I’ll wear a tape around my nose if I get pregnant.’

Another commented: ‘Does it go back to normal later?’