This bilingual booklet provides the rite for the blessing within Mass or outside Mass. The effects of the rite are many: there is recognition that all life is a gift from God; it sustains parents by imparting grace and comfort in time of concern and need; and it unites the parish community in prayer for the unborn child.

Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond, who was Chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Divine Worship when this rite was first published, expressed his hope that this blessing will provide not only support and God’s blessing for expectant parents and their child in the womb, but also serve as an additional effective witness to the sanctity of human life from the first moment of conception.