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Heidi Murkoff | |
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| Born | Heidi Eisenberg November 28, 1958 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Author |
| Notable work | What to Expect When You're Expecting |
| Parent(s) | Howard Eisenberg Arlene Eisenberg |
Heidi Murkoff (born 1958) is the co-author of the What to Expect When You're Expecting series of pregnancy guides. [1] She is also the creator of WhatToExpect.com and founder of the What to Expect Project.
Murkoff conceived the idea for What to Expect When You're Expecting during her first pregnancy, when she couldn't find answers to her questions in books she consulted. Hours before having her daughter Emma, Heidi delivered the proposal for a pregnancy guide.
What to Expect When You're Expecting has printed more than 22 million copies as of June 2023. Currently in the 20th printing of its 5th edition, it became the longest-running title of all time on The New York Times Best Seller list in June 2015, a record it still holds. USA Today named it one of the most influential books in a quarter century — also reporting that it is read by 93 percent of women who read a pregnancy book.
Other titles in the series include What to Expect the First Year, Eating Well When You're Expecting, What to Expect Before You're Expecting, What to Expect the Second Year, What to Expect When Mommy's Having a Baby and What to Expect When the New Baby Comes Home. The What to Expect books have sold more than 42 million copies worldwide and are published in 38 countries and in 44 languages.
In 2012, the original book became a feature name with the same name and Murkoff served as executive producer. The film is a comedy about five couples expecting children.
In 2005, Murkoff expanded the What to Expect (WTE) brand online with WhatToExpect.com, which registers over 60% of United States pregnancies and is the #1 rated pregnancy app on the App Store. WhatToExpect.com has 20 million users, with an average of 800,000 new posts each month, a new post every two seconds, and the average user visiting 14 times a month. The app offers weekly content and videos by Murkoff, and she also answers questions daily on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The What to Expect Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping mothers in need have healthy pregnancies, safe deliveries and healthy babies. Its program Baby Basics includes a culturally appropriate, research-based low-literacy pregnancy guide, supportive curriculum and training for health care professionals and staff in clinics, and is available in English, Spanish and Chinese; it has been distributed to over 900,000 expectant at-risk mothers and babies. The Project also partnered with the United States Department of State to bring the Basics book and program to Liberia and Bangladesh and plans to expand the program to Nigeria.
In 2013, Murkoff, her husband Erik and the What to Expect Project partnered with the United Service Organizations to create Special Delivery, a program that supports expectant mothers in the military. Murkoff has hosted more than 200 Special Delivery baby showers for more than 25,000 military mothers, both in active duty and as spouses, around the world. The showers were held virtually during the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic, but are now being held in-person again.
Special Delivery Dad's Edition showers — also hosted by Murkoff — celebrate military expectant fatheres at bases around the world. Murkoff advocates for military mothers, maternal health in the military and the wellbeing of military families, and has brought several pieces of legislation to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 which were enacted into law, including the Doulas Under Tricare Bill. On June 23, 2022, the Murkoffs received the Elizabeth and Zachary Fisher Distinguished Civilian Humanitarian Award for their support of military families. They were nominated by the United States Navy and were presented with the award on behalf of the United States Department of Defense by the United States Secretary of the Air Force, Frank Kendall III, at a ceremony at The Pentagon's Hall of Heroes.
The What to Expect Project has expanded its mission globally, including to South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Syria, Bangladesh, and India, working with International Medical Corps and Jhpiego to help deliver maternal healthcare and training.
In 2015, The What to Expect Project debuted the social media advocacy campaign #BumpDay with founding partners International Medical Corps, 1,000 Days and the United Nation Universal Access Project. This campaign celebrates baby bumps and healthy pregnancies around the world, while raising awareness about the need for more equitable maternal health care both in the U.S. and globally. Since 2020, #BumpDay has focused efforts on reversing escalating rates of maternal mortality and widening gaps in care for Black mothers, AIAN mothers, and rural mothers living in maternity care deserts in the U.S. Bump Day invites mothers and others to post photos of their baby bumps (past or present) on Instagram and Twitter while sharing messages of support for each other. The campaign has been shared by influential figures including Olivia Wilde, Christy Turlington, Brooklyn Decker, Pharrell Williams, Chris Coons, Kirsten Gillibrand, Richard Blumenthal, and Tammy Murphy, as well as hundreds of global health and community health organizations, advocacy groups, and government agencies.
Murkoff is an activist for maternal health, meeting and making media appearances with leaders in the United States Senate and House of Representatives to discuss issues that impact mothers and families, including maternal healthcare, mental healthcare, family leave, and family planning. She works with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and public health agencies and organizations. She has done multiple interviews for the What to Expect platform with public health experts, including Rochelle Walensky, Anthony Fauci, and Vivek Murthy. Murkoff also sits on the board of the 2030 Collaborative.
Murkoff has appeared on Today , Good Morning America , The Early Show , The Oprah Winfrey Show , BBC Breakfast , Good Morning Australia , and CBS News Sunday Morning . She is a frequent guest on radio and podcasts, and hosted the What to Expect Podcast with her daughter Emma.
In 2011, Heidi was named one of the Time 100 most influential people. She has also been honored by Smithsonian Associates with the John P. McGovern Award, which recognizes contributions to American families, and has been inducted into the Books for a Better Life Hall of Fame. In 2015, she received the International Medical Corps Humanitarian Award, and in 2021, she and her husband were honored with the Jhpiego Visionary Award.
Murkoff and her husband Erik reside in Southern California. Together, they have two children and two grandchildren. [2]
Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million human births globally. In the developed countries, most deliveries occur in hospitals, while in the developing countries most are home births.
Maternal death or maternal mortality is defined in slightly different ways by several different health organizations. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternal death as the death of a pregnant mother due to complications related to pregnancy, underlying conditions worsened by the pregnancy or management of these conditions. This can occur either while she is pregnant or within six weeks of resolution of the pregnancy. The CDC definition of pregnancy-related deaths extends the period of consideration to include one year from the resolution of the pregnancy. Pregnancy associated death, as defined by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), are all deaths occurring within one year of a pregnancy resolution. Identification of pregnancy associated deaths is important for deciding whether or not the pregnancy was a direct or indirect contributing cause of the death.
A baby shower is a party centered on gift-giving to celebrate the delivery or expected birth of a child. It is a rite of passage that celebrates through giving gifts and spending time together.
Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops (gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins.
Postterm pregnancy is when a woman has not yet delivered her baby after 42 weeks of gestation, two weeks beyond the typical 40-week duration of pregnancy. Postmature births carry risks for both the mother and the baby, including fetal malnutrition, meconium aspiration syndrome, and stillbirths. After the 42nd week of gestation, the placenta, which supplies the baby with nutrients and oxygen from the mother, starts aging and will eventually fail. Postterm pregnancy is a reason to induce labor.
BabyCenter is an online media company based in San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles that provides information on conception, pregnancy, birth, and early childhood development for parents and expecting parents. BabyCenter operates 9 country and region specific properties including websites, apps, emails, print publications, and an online community where parents can connect on a variety of topics. Users of the website can sign up for free weekly email newsletters that guide them through pregnancy and their child's development.
Maternal health is the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. In most cases, maternal health encompasses the health care dimensions of family planning, preconception, prenatal, and postnatal care in order to ensure a positive and fulfilling experience. In other cases, maternal health can reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. Maternal health revolves around the health and wellness of pregnant women, particularly when they are pregnant, at the time they give birth, and during child-raising. WHO has indicated that even though motherhood has been considered as a fulfilling natural experience that is emotional to the mother, a high percentage of women develop health problems and sometimes even die. Because of this, there is a need to invest in the health of women. The investment can be achieved in different ways, among the main ones being subsidizing the healthcare cost, education on maternal health, encouraging effective family planning, and ensuring progressive check up on the health of women with children. Maternal morbidity and mortality particularly affects women of color and women living in low and lower-middle income countries.
What to Expect When You're Expecting is a pregnancy guide, now in its fifth edition, authored by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel and published by Workman Publishing. Its first edition, authored by Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, and Sandee Hathaway, was originally published in 1984. The book consistently tops The New York Times Best Seller list in the paperback advice category, is one of USA Today's "25 Most Influential Books" of the past 25 years and has been described as "the bible of American pregnancy". As of 2021, per the publisher and the author's agent, over 22 million copies were in print in. According to USA Today, 93 percent of all expectant mothers who read a pregnancy guide read What to Expect When You're Expecting. In 2005, WhatToExpect.com launched. The What to Expect mobile app launched on iOS in 2009 and Android in 2014. In 2012, What to Expect When You're Expecting was adapted into a film released by Lionsgate.
A push present is a present a partner or family gives to the mother to mark the occasion of her giving birth to their child. In practice the present may be given before or after the birth, or even in the delivery room. The giving of push presents has supposedly grown in the United States in recent years. However, it is at the discretion of the husband or father.
Deficient sanitation systems, poor nutrition, and inadequate health services have pushed Haiti to the bottom of the World Bank’s rankings of health indicators. According to the United Nations World Food Programme, 80 percent of Haiti’s population lives below the poverty line. In fact, 75% of the Haitian population lives off of $2.50 per day. Consequently, malnutrition is a significant problem. Half the population can be categorized as "food insecure," and half of all Haitian children are undersized as a result of malnutrition. Less than half the population has access to clean drinking water, a rate that compares poorly even with other less-developed nations. Haiti's healthy life expectancy at birth is 63 years. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that only 43 percent of the target population receives the recommended immunizations.
Simantonnayana or Simantha, is the third of the 16 Saṃskāras in the ancient texts of Hinduism. It is observed in the last trimester of pregnancy to wish for safe delivery and is similar to a baby shower.
What to Expect When You're Expecting is a 2012 American romantic comedy film directed by Kirk Jones and distributed by Lionsgate. It was written by Shauna Cross and Heather Hach and is based on Heidi Murkoff's 1984 pregnancy guide of the same name. Its story follows the lives of five couples as their lives are turned upside down by the difficulties and surprises of parenthood. It stars Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker, Ben Falcone, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Morrison, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock and Rodrigo Santoro.
Robin Lim is a midwife and founder of Yayasan Bumi Sehat health clinics, which offer free prenatal care, birthing services and medical aid to anyone who needs it. She and her team have been working since 2003 to combat Indonesia's high maternal and infant mortality rates, and the Bumi Sehat birth centers serve many at-risk mothers. She was awarded the 2011 CNN Hero of the Year award by the CNN news network for helping thousands of low-income women in Indonesia with healthy pregnancy and birth services.
Uganda, like many developing countries, has high maternal mortality ratio at 153 per 100,000 live births.According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes. In situations where attribution of the cause of death is inadequate, another definition, pregnancy-related death was coined by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), defined as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the cause of death.
Childbirth in Haiti follows a system of behavior determined by local beliefs, traditions and attitudes, and is also affected by economic conditions and limitations of available health care facilities.
Pregnancy options counseling is a form of counseling aimed to counsel women on decision-making for a troubling or unintended pregnancy.
Arlene Leila Scharaga Eisenberg was an author best known for her contributions to parenting to self-help literature. Eisenberg co-wrote what has been described as the "bible of American pregnancy," What to Expect When You're Expecting (1984). The book's success led to the What To Expect parenting series, which as of 2012, has sold over 34 million copies in 30 languages.
Maternal mortality refers to the death of a woman during her pregnancy or up to a year after her pregnancy has terminated; this metric only includes causes related to the pregnancy, and does not include accidental causes. Some sources will define maternal mortality as the death of a woman up to 42 days after the pregnancy has ended, instead of one year. In 1986, the CDC began tracking pregnancy-related deaths to gather information and determine what was causing these deaths by creating the Pregnancy-Related Mortality Surveillance System. According to a 2010-2011 report although the United States was spending more on healthcare than any other country in the world, more than two women died during childbirth every day, making maternal mortality in the United States the highest when compared to 49 other countries in the developed world.
Black maternal mortality in the United States refers to the death of women, specifically those who identify as Black or African American, during or after child delivery. In general, maternal death can be due to a myriad of factors, such as how the nature of the pregnancy or the delivery itself, but is not associated with unintentional or secondary causes. In the United States, around 700 women die from pregnancy-related illnesses or complications per year. This number does not include the approximately 50,000 women who experience life-threatening complications during childbirth, resulting in lifelong disabilities and complications. However, there are stark differences in maternal mortality rates for Black American women versus Indigenous American, Alaska Native, and White American women.
Birthing classes are classes to help parents to prepare for the birth of a baby and the first cares of a newborn, and a birth plan is a document created by a pregnant woman detailing her decisions and expectations regarding her labor and childbirth.
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