Fueling Family Life: How Instacart Supports Moms from the Start

If you've ever walked the aisles of a grocery store with a newborn in tow - trying to fill your cart one-handed while soothing a crying baby - you know how much of a struggle shopping can be in those early months. The "fourth trimester," or the first three months postpartum, is full of love, learning, and a whole lot of figuring it out as you go.

As a mom, I vividly recall how transformative and intense those early months were. My daughter's first year felt like a loop of formula, diapers, coffee beans - repeat. With sleep and sanity elusive, Instacart became our lifeline.

This Mother's Day, Instacart is proud to continue our work to show up for families, especially new moms, with new consumer offerings, impactful healthcare partnerships, and ongoing policy advocacy, dedicated to helping make nutritious food and essentials more accessible.

Supporting Moms Through the Fourth Trimester with Instacart+

The reality is that women drive much of the caregiving and household shopping responsibilities - over 75% of Instacart customers are women, and 15% have children under 6. To help lighten the load for new families, Instacart recently announced a free three-month Instacart+ membership. Whether it's keeping the fridge stocked or automating delivery of baby essentials, we want to help make getting groceries one less thing for new parents to worry about.

This is just one part of our broader commitment to supporting families - because we know that access to nutritious food isn't a nice-to-have for new moms during this time; it's an essential need.

Connecting More Moms to the Food They Need Through Healthcare

The health risks facing moms and babies in the U.S. are astounding, with maternal and infant mortality rates significantly higher than in other developed countries.¹ Addressing this crisis requires a comprehensive approach, and access to nutritious food is part of the solution. A healthy diet during pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of complications like preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and preterm delivery.² Simply put, consistent access to nutritious foods leads to healthier pregnancies and healthier babies.³

Through Instacart Health, we've partnered with leading healthcare organizations to help more women access the nutritious food and guidance they need for a healthy pregnancy. These partnerships - spanning Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) and major hospital systems - are designed to reduce barriers to nutrition and provide support that meets moms where they are. Most recently, we've joined forces with Cleveland Clinic to support its Healthy Moms and Babies Initiative in Ohio. This program helps ensure expectant moms facing food insecurity can access both the nourishment and expert guidance needed to support a healthy pregnancy and birth.

These programs reflect a growing recognition that nutrition is essential to maternal care - and we're proud to keep building on this work so that every expectant mom has the support and nourishment she and her baby need to thrive.

Helping WIC Work for Moms

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children - known as WIC - has long been one of the most effective government tools we have in the U.S. to support the health of moms and babies. Through access to nutritious food and essentials, nutrition education, and other vital resources, the program can help families lay a foundation for a healthy future.

As the needs of families continue to evolve, our public programs must evolve, too. That's why we've been proud to advocate for modernizing WIC, including bringing the program online - which would make it easier for moms to access the essentials they need, in ways that reflect how families shop today. Whether it's simplifying the shopping experience or making healthy choices easier, modernizing WIC is key to expanding nutrition access and impact.

We're also continuing to advocate to expand the duration of WIC eligibility - for children, from five years old to six, and for mothers, increasing postpartum program eligibility from one to two years for all mothers. We also believe policymakers should take steps to make it easier for expecting and new moms to enroll in WIC and renew their benefits.

We've seen encouraging momentum through our work with the National WIC Association, and we'll continue working hand in hand with policymakers and advocates to help strengthen and modernize WIC - because when public programs keep pace with the needs of families, moms receive the support they need and babies get a healthier start on life.

Of course, our commitment to mothers and children doesn't end with the early years - we're focused on supporting families at every stage. That includes advocating for broader adoption of the Summer EBT program so more families with children have access to food when school is out, as well as closely supporting the Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger as they advance innovative solutions in cities nationwide.

At Instacart, we're here for moms.

To every mom, mother figure and caregiver who nurtures and supports families every day - happy Mother's Day and thank you for everything you do. We see you. We celebrate you. And we'll keep working to support you, today and every day.

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1. Gunja, Munira Z., et al. "U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, 2022: Accelerating Spending, Worsening Outcomes." The Commonwealth Fund, 31 Jan. 2023, www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2023/jan/us-health-care-global-perspective-2022. ↩︎
2. "Healthy Diet Before and During Pregnancy Linked to Lower Risk of Complications, NIH Study Suggests." National Institutes of Health, 2 June 2021, https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/healthy-diet-before-during-pregnancy-linked-lower-risk-complications-nih-study-suggests.
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3. Anderson-Villaluz, Dennis, and Julia Quam. "Nutrition During Pregnancy to Support a Healthy Mom and Baby." Health.gov, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 16 Feb. 2022, https://health.gov/news/202202/nutrition-during-pregnancy-support-healthy-mom-and-baby. ↩︎