Happy Mother’s Day to all the Philly moms! Find out more resources for moms and families on Philly Loves Families. And don’t forget to stay up to date with vaccines to keep yourself, your family, and your community safe and healthy!

Mother’s Day is a time to recognize and celebrate the mothers in our lives and in our communities. It is also an opportunity to show love to anyone in your life who has served as a mother figure. Who are you celebrating this Mother’s Day?

Each year, around 20,000 Philly women give birth. That’s a lot of moms! In 2021 (the most recent year we have complete numbers for), there were almost 8,000 Philadelphians who became new moms. A special shout out to all the new moms celebrating their first Mother’s Day this year!

MCFH, empowering all Philadelphia mothers, children, and families

The Health Department has a division dedicated to the health of mothers and families. The mission of the Division of Maternal, Child, and Family Health (MCFH) is to empower all Philadelphia mothers, children, and families to create and live healthy lives.

Here are some ways that MCFH has served Philly moms and families by the numbers:

• The Safe Sleep Philly Crib Program gave out over 1,100 free portable cribs and provided safe sleep education to families with new babies. There are now 19 Crib Stations across the city, including two at birthing hospitals, four at medical centers, and 13 at community and education-based organizations.
• The Health Department received over $3 million to support the Philly Joy Bank. The Philly Joy Bank is a pilot program of the Philadelphia Community Action Network (CAN) that will provide a monthly guaranteed income for approximately 250 pregnant Philadelphians with the aim of reducing racial disparities in birth outcomes.
• 82 birthing persons were served by the Doula Support Program, receiving over 700 visits from the doulas.
• Over 1,800 new users signed up for Pacify, an app that provides 24/7 access to live lactation and infant feeding support. Philly residents get free access with code PHILLY.

More than 950 families served through Philly Families CAN, the home visiting centralized intake system.

Lower the risk of getting COVID-19 by staying up to date with vaccinations!

Even though the public health emergency ended this week, COVID-19 has not disappeared. While we’re as excited as you are that case counts have gone down, we still encourage everyone to be up to date with their vaccinations.

For anyone about to become a mom, vaccines protect pregnant or breastfeeding people from severe illness and death and babies who can’t be vaccinated yet (6 months and younger) from hospitalization caused by COVID-19.

So, Happy Mother’s Day! Whoever and however you celebrate this Sunday, we share your number one priority – keeping your family healthy and safe!