‘They made us feel like pregnancy was a bad word’

Online platforms accused of ‘silencing’ women's health and wellbeing adverts, while those for men's health issues thrive

- MARYAM ZAKIR-HUSSAIN

Posts about pregnancy, menopause and infertility are being “silenced” by Meta, with adverts for items such as pregnancy pillows being blocked from the site without good reason, it has been claimed.

BellaMoon and Hertility are among the companies which have claimed Meta, TikTok and Google are blocking posts and adverts about women's health and lifestyle products, while allowing similar posts about men's health issues to thrive.

BellaMoon, a small brand from Ireland, was first blocked by Meta in January after the site reclassified its flagship product, a pregnancy pillow, as a medical device. The company ended up taking out the word “pregnancy” from all its adverts, with CEO Irene Breen telling The Independent: “They made us feel like pregnancy was a bad word.”

Meta introduced new health categories in January 2025 and rolled out additional restrictions to prevent advertisers from sharing information that is not allowed under Meta's terms. This information includes sensitive health data.

But femtech companies - businesses involved in technology products addressing women's health and wellbeing issues – claim the new rules disproportionately “censor” women's health content.

They have repeatedly accused the platforms of “systemic bias and discrimination” and say the issue is having a “catastrophic” impact on their revenue, with the founder of one company having to undergo counselling to help cope with the immense stress.

Meta has given “vague and inconsistent” reasons for repeatedly blocking, removing and restricting content about women’s health, despite ads about men’s health - such as erectile dysfunction and sperm testing - continuing to appear on the same platforms, they claim.