Pregnant woman revealed a minor health concern to ChatGPT — its response saved her life: ‘Call ambulance. Now’

No symptom is too small, especially when you're pregnant. During pregnancy, women need to be extra careful about the symptoms and changes they experience to ensure safety for the mother and the baby. A 28-year-old woman, Natallia Tarrien, was 8 months pregnant when she felt something unusual with her jaw, per Newsweek. She didn’t think much of it but decided to ask ChatGPT about it “for fun.” In return, she was guided to eventually head straight to the hospital. It was this seemingly insignificant detail that became a life-saving probe, thanks to ChatGPT. 

The woman explained that she was feeling a tightness in her jaw. However, she initially thought she should brush it off. "It didn't seem like a serious issue at the time as I wasn't experiencing any other symptoms," she recounted. However, as a frequent user of the AI tool, she decided to ask for fun, “Why does my jaw feel tight?” Andrew Beam, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard, described ChatGPT as “a super high-powered medical search engine,” per TODAY. He added, “I do think ChatGPT can be a good partner in that diagnostic odyssey. It has read literally the entire internet. It may not have the same blind spots as the human physician has."

Right enough, ChatGPT suggested the woman check her blood pressure. With nothing to lose, the curious Tarrien decided to give it a shot and was baffled when her pressure read, “142/109.” According to the American Heart Association, a normal blood pressure range is less than 120/80. It may fluctuate to go up to less than 130/80, which is a bit higher. Anything over 130/80 to 139/89 is considered high and higher is described as “Hypertension stage 2.” Even higher is a “Hypertensive crisis.” Tarrien was in Hypertension stage 2.  “It was high — really high. I thought it would go down but it only kept climbing,” she mentioned in her caption.

When she shared the result with ChatGPT, it responded urgently, “Call an ambulance. Now.” “By the time we got to the hospital, my blood pressure was 200/146,” she wrote. Without knowing it, the mom-to-be had reached the last stage, the hypertensive crisis stage, putting her baby and her life at risk. The woman was diagnosed with preeclampsia—a dangerous pregnancy complication marked by high blood pressure. “The doctors took one look at me and said, ‘We need to deliver your baby — immediately,’” Tarrien revealed. Fortunately, because she arrived in time, her baby was delivered safely and was fine.

She noted that her blood pressure was still at dangerously high levels for a few days post-delivery. She even lost her vision temporarily due to it. She could see very faintly and everything was a blur. What followed was an MRI, hoping nothing was wrong. Eventually, after 5 days, the mom got her vision back and was able to see her baby for the first time. “The doctor said something I’ll never forget. ‘If you had gone to sleep that night, you wouldn’t have woken up,’” the mom remarked. “I still get chills thinking about it. All of this started from one small symptom — and one random question. Thank you, ChatGPT. You saved two lives,” the mom said. She added, "Without this chat, I probably wouldn't have thought to contact my doctor, especially since it felt so minor."

You can follow Natallia Tarrien (@natallia.tarrien) on Instagram for more content on motherhood and lifestyle.