The unofficial event was organized by a woman named Anna Marie Jarvis, who wanted to both commemorate her own mother's death and establish a national day of recognition for all mothers. She got her wish in 1914, when the U.S. Congress and President Wilson officially proclaimed that the second Sunday in May would thereafter be recognized as Mother's Day.
Today, some 82.8 million mothers in the U.S. will be expecting flowers and cards, or perhaps just a phone call from grown children living far away. They will probably take a moment to think about their own mothers, as well as the other important women in their lives.
n The total fertility rate in the United States in 2006 was 2.1, which was the first time it reached replacement level since 1971, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
About 4.3 million babies were born in the U.S. in 2006, the NCHS reported. Of these, more than 435,000 babies were born to mothers ages 15 to 19, and nearly 113,000 were born to mothers 40 or older.
The average age of a woman giving birth for the first time in 2005 was 25.2. That's an increase of 3.8 years from the average age of 21.4 in 1970.
Also in 2005, slightly more than 37,400 births took place outside of a hospital.
August is usually the month that sees the highest number of births. And usually, more births take place on a Tuesday than any other day of the week, again according to the NCHS.
5.6 million women described themselves as stay-at-home moms in 2006.
Also in 2006, 10.4 million mothers described themselves as single mothers whose children were younger than 18.
54 percent of children younger than 6 eat breakfast with their mother every day, compared to 41 percent who eat breakfast with their fathers every day. And
79 percent of them eat dinner with their mother every day, compared to 66 percent with their fathers.
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