This Mother’s Day marks the launch of an innovative global initiative that aims to tackle one of the world’s most pressing health challenges through an unexpected vehicle: soccer fandom. FC Mother, a groundbreaking platform created by former professional soccer player Morad Fareed, is set to harness the passionate community and competitive spirit of football clubs worldwide to significantly improve maternal health outcomes.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. According to the World Health Organization, maternal mortality remains “unacceptably high” globally, with more than 700 women dying every day in 2023 from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. This persistent crisis has resisted traditional medical and public health interventions for decades, suggesting that innovative approaches are desperately needed.

The World Cup of Healing: Transforming Fandom into Health Outcomes

FC Mother is introducing what they’ve dubbed the “World Cup of Healing” — a revolutionary competition that measures health improvements among participating mothers, grouped according to their soccer team allegiances. The initiative cleverly transforms the intense loyalty and community spirit of soccer fandom into a powerful force for improving maternal wellbeing.

The concept is elegantly simple yet potentially revolutionary: mothers access services and build connections through the FC Mother platform, regularly completing survey questions that assess their wellbeing. Their health improvements directly fuel their team’s progress in the competition, creating a powerful incentive structure that leverages existing team loyalty to drive better health behaviors.

Credibility Through Elite Partnerships

What distinguishes FC Mother from many health startups is its impressive roster of institutional backers. The initiative has secured partnerships with researchers from Harvard Medical School and Harvard’s School of Public Health, providing crucial scientific credibility to the project. Additionally, team doctors from global soccer powerhouses including Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Arsenal FC have lent their support and expertise.

This combination of public health innovation with elite sports medicine creates a unique interdisciplinary approach that could potentially transform how we address complex global health challenges.

The Inaugural Competition: US vs. Brazil

The Mother’s Day launch will pit three football clubs in Brazil and their associated fanbases of mothers against three in the United States: Mothers of San Diego FC, Mothers of Gotham FC, and Mothers of Omaha Union. This initial competition provides a compelling test case, as both countries face significant challenges in maternal health.

According to data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, the United States ranks a dismal 44th out of 48 World Cup countries in maternal health outcomes—lower than any other developed nation based on life-years lost due to poor maternal health. Brazil fares only slightly worse at 46th place.

Team USA in this inaugural health outcomes competition will be coached by Jennie Joseph, founder of Commonsense Childbirth and a 2022 Time magazine Woman of the Year for her groundbreaking work as a midwife focused on reducing maternal mortality.

Measuring Success: The Science of QUALYs

Central to FC Mother’s approach is the use of quality-adjusted life-years (QUALYs) as a metric for success. A QUALY represents one year of life in perfect health—a sophisticated measurement increasingly used by major public health organizations to assess intervention effectiveness.

Participants self-report various aspects of their health through surveys, including mental and emotional wellbeing, pain levels, and other health domains. This data not only drives the team competition but also provides valuable research insights that could inform broader maternal health initiatives.

While FC Mother leaves medical treatment to clinicians, Fareed points to research demonstrating that improved perinatal mental health and robust social support can generate as many as 10 additional higher-quality life years for mothers and their children—a remarkable potential impact.

Technology Meets Community Support

The FC Mother platform operates like a traditional sports leaderboard, featuring team statistics and rankings. However, it also provides crucial immediate support connections for mothers. These features are accessible through the FC Mother App or via Meta’s WhatsApp, ensuring broad accessibility across different technology platforms and socioeconomic groups.

This health technology approach creates a scalable model that could potentially reach millions of expectant and new mothers worldwide, providing pregnancy support and community connections at a fraction of the cost of traditional medical interventions.

FC Mother taps into football’s vast social infrastructure, community, and competitive spirit to transform maternal health outcomes globally.

A Sustainable Business Model for Global Impact

Unlike many initiatives addressing global maternal health, FC Mother is designed as a for-profit venture rather than a charity. Fareed believes that corporations, professional sports organizations, family offices, and donor-advised funds will be eager to invest in a platform that delivers measurable health improvements at significantly lower costs than traditional medical interventions.

This business model creates potential for sustainable scaling and global impact that often eludes purely charitable endeavors. By aligning financial incentives with health outcomes, FC Mother could potentially attract the substantial investment needed to address maternal mortality on a truly global scale.

The Road to World Cup 2026

The current “World Cup of Healing” serves as a proof-of-concept for FC Mother’s ambitious vision. The organization hopes this initial competition will demonstrate sufficient impact to convince 40 football clubs to participate in a global maternal health outcomes competition during the World Cup in 2026.

This expansion would dramatically increase the initiative’s reach and potential impact, potentially transforming how we approach maternal wellbeing on a global scale through the unique combination of sports-based health initiatives and community support networks.