14 Mother’s Facts You Don’t Know

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.

Fact source

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.”

Fact source

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.

Fact source

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.

Fact source

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.

Fact source

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.

Fact source

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.

Fact source