Know your tribe
Having a child is a life-changing event that forces soon-to-be parents to rethink everything. During this time, women tend to reconsider almost every category of goods and services. With a baby on the way, the two-door coupe and savings account with a measly one percent interest rate just won't cut it anymore. Even everyday things like cleaning products are re-evaluated to make sure they're safe for the newest family member. Naturally, women seek advice from other moms in the tribe, and they are happy to oblige with their advice and recommendations.

The study found close to one in five pregnant women and new moms were identified as word-of-mouth leaders based on their recommending behavior and size of social network. To put this into context, that's a whopping 60 percent more than women in general or the total public.  

Idle chatter? Bite your tongue.
In this age of citizen journalism and social media, we've all had to come to grips with the fact that all talk isn't necessarily positive talk. However, when it comes to pregnant women and new moms, 60 percent of their conversations carry with them a recommendation to buy, try or consider, and positive brand sentiment in those conversations outweighs the negative by a 10:1 margin. The even better news is that after hearing brand recommendations from other moms, 37 percent are motivated enough to seek out more information, and half say they're likely to purchase the recommended brand. In the shopping, retail and apparel category, it's even higher, with 69 percent likely to purchase based on what was passed along.