Mothers are the most loving people on earth. They sacrifice for their children like no one else can, and being a mother is a universal experience among humans and animals alike. Here are some heartwarming facts about mothers around the world:

• According to Greek mythology, Mother Earth, or Gaia was the first goddess who created herself out of chaos. She also created the Earth and the universe.
• A mother polar bear puts on double the weight during her pregnancy, which is around 400 pounds. If the weight of the mother doesn’t double at the time of pregnancy, the body will reabsorb the fetus.
• The mother that gives birth to the largest baby on earth is the elephant. An elephant mother goes through a 22-month long pregnancy and gives birth to a 200-pound blind calf.

blandinejoannic/Pixabay. An orangutan nurses its baby for seven years.

• The longest time a mother in nature nurses her baby for is seven years, and that is the mother of a baby orangutan. The orangutan mother never puts her baby down for the amount of time the child is dependent on her, which can be anywhere between six to seven years.
• The most popular mother in literature is the nameless mother of Grendel from Beowulf (AD 800-1100). The mother’s character avenges her son’s death by attacking Beowulf’s army.
• In modern television, a highly-accomplished, career-oriented powerful mother character was first introduced in the late ‘80s and the early ‘90s, as depicted in “Who’s the Boss” and “The Cosby Show.”

Nick Fewings/Unsplash. Americans spend $14.6 billions on Mother’s Day each year.

• Celebrating Mother’s Day is a great tradition in the United States, where Americans spend $14.6 billion on gifts and $1.9 billion on flowers alone.
• Pregnancy and childbirth-related causes take the lives of approximately 800 women in a single day, globally. Out of the 278,000 deaths related to pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum annually, 565 of those take place in Sub-Saharan Africa, while 295 occur in South Asia.
• Despite spending a considerable amount of money on healthcare and maternal well-being, it is far more dangerous to give birth in the U.S. than it is in 49 other countries including Bulgaria, South Korea, and Kuwait.

Sanjasy/Pixabay. 99% of all maternity-related deaths take place in developing countries.

• Developing countries see more deaths of women during childbirth, pregnancy, and postpartum than developed countries. Around 99% of maternal deaths take place in developing countries, a statistic that depicts that these deaths are preventable.
• The oldest mother in the world is from India. Rajo Devi Lohan was 70 years old when she gave birth to a baby girl in 2008, after a complicated IVF procedure.