14 Mother’s Facts You Don’t Know
Gaia, or Mother Earth
Gaia, or Mother Earth, was the first goddess in Greek mythology. She created herself out of primordial chaos. She also created Earth and the universe.
American family
Modern moms in the U.S. have an average of 2 kids. In the 1950s, they had an average of 3.5 kids. In the 1700s, they had 7–10 kids.
85.4 million mothers
There are an estimated 85.4 million mothers in the United States.
Busiest phone days of the year
There are about 122.5 million phone calls on Mother’s Day, making it one of the busiest phone days of the year.
History
There are several instances throughout history where children turned on their mothers. For example, Cleopatra III of Egypt was assassinated by order of her son Ptolemy X. Nero is said to have his mother murdered as well.
The word for “mom”
The word for “mom” is “mama” in Mandarin Chinese, “mamma” in Iceland, “em” in Hebrew, and “me” in Vietnamese. Because one of the first utterances babies make is a “ma” sound, most languages around the world have that sound as the basis for their word for “mother.”
Comparison
Although the U.S. spends more money than any other country on health care as well as on maternal care, it is more dangerous to give birth in the U.S. than in 49 other countries, including Kuwait, Bulgaria, and South Korea.
Mother’s day spending
Americans spend $14.6 billion on gifts on Mother’s Day, including $671 million on cards and $1.9 billion on flowers.
Change a diaper
On average, moms take 2 minutes 5 seconds to change a diaper, which is equivalent to about three 40-hour work weeks each year. Fathers take an average of 1 minute 36 seconds.
The oldest mother
The oldest mother in modern history to give birth is Rajo Devi Lohan from India. She was 70 years old in 2008 when she gave birth to a baby girl following a controversial IVF treatment.
Record-breaking babies
The shortest interval between two births is 208 days or 6½ months. Jayne Bleackley gave birth to a son on September 3, 1999. She later gave birth to a daughter on March 30, 2000.
Baby knows
A baby can recognize the smell and voice of its mother at birth. It takes a few weeks before a baby can see the difference between its mother and other adults.
Supermom
The largest number of babies born to a woman is 69. From 1725-1765, a Russian peasant woman gave birth to 16 sets of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets.
Complications
Around the world, one woman dies every 90 seconds from complications of pregnancy or childbirth.