A woman’s nutrition is vital throughout the course of her life, for her own well-being. During pregnancy, nutrition is all the more essential to both her child’s health and her own. Children’s nutrition is dependent on mothers; short maternal height and low body mass index (BMI) are associated with lower height-for-age and weight-for-height for children under 24 months of age, related to small size at birth. The latest Lancet Series on Maternal & Child Undernutrition Progress brings together new evidence on maternal nutrition’s critical role in child health and calls for more programmatic focus and research on maternal health and nutrition globally. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the need to focus on maternal nutrition, as many women are on the frontlines of the healthcare and food service industries, while also taking on more child and family care responsibilities.