Heidi Murkoff

It all started with a babyand a book. Heidi Murkoff conceived the idea for What to Expect When You're Expecting during her first pregnancy, when she couldnt find answers to her questions or reassurance for her worries in the books shed turned to for much-needed advice. Determined to write a guide that would help other expectant parents sleep better at night, Heidi delivered the proposal for What to Expect When Youre Expecting just hours before delivering her daughter, Emma.

Dubbed the pregnancy bible, the iconic New York Times bestseller is now in its all-new fourth edition, with over 17 million copies in print, and according to USA Today, is read by 93 percent of women who read a pregnancy book. Other titles in the series include Eating Well When Youre Expecting, What to Expect the First Year, What to Expect Before Youre Expecting (a complete preconception plan), and the newest member of the What to Expect family: What to Expect the Second Year, the must-have guide for parents of toddlers. The What to Expect books have sold more than 34 million copies in the US alone, and are published in over 30 languages.

In 2005, Heidi expanded the What to Expect (WTE) brand online with WhatToExpect.com the interactive companion to the WTE books, and home to a vibrant, vast, yet close-knit community of over two million parents. In 2009, WTE went mobile with the WTE Pregnancy Tracker (the most popular pregnancy app in the world), followed by the WTE Fertility Tracker, the WTE Baby Name Finder, the WTE First Year Tracker, and the WTE Grow With Me Video Flip Book. Most recently, Heidi helped turn her iconic book into a feature film What to Expect When You're Expecting acting as executive producer. A comedy that features five intertwining couples whose lives are turned upside down by the challenges of impending parenthood, the film stars an ensemble cast including Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Rock, and Elizabeth Banks.

Heidis passionate commitment to moms and babies led to the creation of the What to Expect Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping underserved families expect healthy pregnancies, safe deliveries, and healthy, happy babies. With a beautiful, culturally appropriate low-literacy pregnancy guide (provided at no cost) and comprehensive prenatal health literacy support, the WTE Foundations groundbreaking Baby Basics program available in English, Spanish, and Chinese has helped over 500,000 expectant moms-to-be in need and their babies.

Heidi has appeared on hundreds of television and radio shows, including the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, The Early Show, Oprah, BBC Breakfast, and Good Morning Australia. And she was named to the 2011 Time 100, Time Magazine's list of the top 100 most influential people of the year. She connects with her WTE family on her blog on WhatToExpect.com, as well as on Twitter and Facebook.

Heidi and her husband, Erik, have two children and live in Southern California.