#BumpDay: July 19, 2023

Healthy futures start with healthy beginnings, and every mom deserves the respectful, responsive maternal healthcare she needs to deliver a healthy beginning and a healthy future for herself and the baby she loves. But too many moms face barriers to finding that care due to where they live, their ability to pay, or the color of their skin. That’s unacceptable, and that’s why I started #BumpDay with What to Expect and the What to Expect Project.
 
Motherhood is the ultimate sisterhood, and our sisters, especially our Black and Brown sisters, need our support. Please join us on #BumpDay, July 19, to advocate for the low-cost, high-impact, common sense solutions that will ensure more moms have healthy pregnancies, safe deliveries, and healthy futures. What to Expect will be posting personal stories from families who’ve been impacted by our national maternal health crisis, and we invite you to share your story, too, with the hashtag #BumpDay. You can also share a bump photo — yours, or someone you love, past or present, with a simple message of solidarity: every mom, everywhere deserves a safe pregnancy.
 
I also want to encourage you to contact your senators and congressional representatives to urge them to pass the Momnibus Act. This vital legislation would provide prenatal care to those who can’t afford or easily access it, end disparities and racial bias in care, step up programs that provide nutrition, breastfeeding, and mental health support, and ensure that every mom has access to the resources she needs for herself and the baby she loves.
 
Spread the word. Share the love. Save a life.

- Heidi Murkoff, creator of What to Expect

1. Share your story — or show your support. If you’ve struggled to find the respectful, responsive, high-quality maternity care that every mom deserves, post about it on any social platform. You could also share a bump photo — yours, or someone you love — with this simple message: Every mom, everywhere deserves a safe pregnancy. Tag your post with #BumpDay and @whattoexpect. We will be reposting these stories on #BumpDay.

2. Demand action. Contact your congressional representatives and urge them to pass the Momnibus Act in honor of #BumpDay.

Pregnancy-related deaths are rare. Still, about 800 women in the United States — a disproportionate number of them Black, American Indian and Alaska Native — succumb to pregnancy complications each year. And the majority of those deaths are preventable. Be aware of red flags that something could be wrong, and take action if you are experiencing symptoms.