Really? Nifty Facts About America’s Moms

1. The driving force behind Mother's Day was Anna Jarvis, who organized observances in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia on May 10, 1908. As the annual celebration became popular around the country, Jarvis asked members of Congress to set aside a day to honor mothers. She finally succeeded in 1914, when Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. And for the record, perfume is often times the most popular gift given on Mother's Day.

2. There are 85.4 million moms in the United States!

3. Fifty-four percent of 15- to 44-year-old women in the US are mothers.

4. Moms in Utah have the highest number of kids per mom (2.6), while moms in Vermont have the fewest number of kids per mom (1.7).

5. Four million babies were born in 2008. Forty percent of those births were the mother's first; 32 percent were the second-born; 17 percent, third; and 7 percent, fourth.

6. Of those 4 million births, 42,746 did not happen in hospitals— 28,357 were in a residence and 12,014 were in a freestanding birthing center.

7. Of those 4 million births, 5,877 were triplets, 345 were quadruplets, and 46 were quintuplets and higher order multiples. Also, for every 1,000 births, on average, 32 of those are to twins—that’s the highest rate on record!

8. The month with the highest number of births is July. (375,384 in 2008). And Tuesday is the most common day to deliver, with an average of 13,415 births taking place on Tuesdays.

9. In 2010, 5 million moms were stay-at-home moms— that’s down from 5.1 million in 2009 and 5.3 million in 2008.

10. Of the 4 million women 15-44 years old who have given birth in the last year, 1.5 million, or 38 percent, are single moms. 

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This information was collected and released by the US Census Bureau.