Production notes

Written by Heidi Murkoff, What to Expect When You're Expecting is a pregnancy guide released in 1984. It is a top-selling book on The New York Times Best Seller list and is considered one of the most influential books of the past twenty-five years. Additionally, it was dubbed "the bible of American pregnancy" and has sold over 20 million units worldwide. On January 14, 2010, it was announced that Lionsgate had acquired the book's worldwide distribution rights from Phoenix Pictures. Heather Hach, who was nine months pregnant at the time, was hired to write the film's screenplay "based on her pitch", which would follow the story of seven couples who experience the "ups and downs" of preparing for parenthood. David Thwaites produced it alongside Mike Medavoy and Arnie Messer. Alli Shearmur, Lionsgate's President of Motion Picture Productions, said the book is "a brand that knows no boundaries" and they were "excited about this film as the first in a potential franchise". Murkoff said she was excited to see Phoenix Pictures and Lionsgate "bring my baby to life". Medavoy, Messer and Thwaites felt that the book provides the "perfect launching point" to tell a funny story.

Kirk Jones directed the film. Jones had not read or heard about the book, and assumed it was a novel before receiving the script. However, he then discovered that it was in fact a pregnancy guide. Although puzzled at first, he recalled his pregnancy experience as "funny, tragic, exciting" and "hilarious", and thought combining these elements would make for a "really interesting" film. Speaking about the film's theme, he stated that "everybody's experience is different" and multiple different stories "allow the audience to share in everything that is going on" and "by sharing in what's going on and seeing so many characters, there's this energy, and there's humor and there's drama in comparing all of the stories, which are taking place at the same time". What to Expect When You're Expecting stars an ensemble cast, which focuses primarily on the five couples who are going to be first-time parents. According to Access Atlanta, the project also needed "a lot of extras who are in the family way" as well as "babies with star potential". An open casting call was held on July 9, 2011. Casting director Christopher Gray said at the time, "We need a lot of pregnant women. We want the real deal". The film also featured a number of Ethiopians, for which a casting call was issued as well. Additionally, the film contains cameos by various celebrities including, Dwyane Wade, Whitney Port, and Megan Mullally.

The film began principal photography in Atlanta on July 19, 2011. On July 26, production filmed in Midtown on Peachtree Street near High Museum and in Piedmont Park. Jones said it was "tough" organizing schedules because of the number of cast members there were. Having never "shot five simultaneous stories like this", he stated: "Through necessity we had to schedule the film so that I shot everything with Jennifer Lopez in two weeks, everything with Cameron Diaz in two weeks ... because they are not available to keep flying in from another continent for two days work and then flying back again".

The film's score was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh. The soundtrack also contains "Dance (Disco Heat)" performed by Sylvester, "Nobody" performed by Ne-Yo, "Shivas Regal (Theme For Gypsy)" performed by Sonny Lester & His Orchestra, "Oye Como Va" performed by Kinky, "Happening" performed by Chiddy Bang, "Kellerman's Anthem" performed by Emile Bergstein Chorale, "Get Me Golden" performed by Terraplane Sun, "Home" performed by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, "Don't Let Your Feet Touch Ground" performed by Ash Koley, "Weightless" performed by Natasha Bedingfield, "Forever Love" performed by Alex Ebert, "Hypnotize" performed by The Notorious B.I.G., "Comin' Home Baby" performed by Mel Tormé, "Forgetting" performed by David Gray, "Never Gonna Stop" performed by The So Manys, "Inside Out" performed by Nire' AllDai, "Waiting On The Light To Change" performed by Matthew Perryman Jones, "Addicted To Love" performed by Robert Palmer, "Modern Art" performed by Black Lips, "Don't You Want Me" performed by Phil Oakey, Philip Adrian Wright and Jo Callis, "Do What You Want" performed by Daphne Willis, "Broken Sky" performed by Rob Laufer, "Why Don't We Get Drunk" performed by Jimmy Buffett, "Put Your Hands Up" performed by The MIDI Mafia, "Samba Vocalizado" performed by Luciano Perrone, "Get It Daddy" performed by Sleeper Agent, "Now Is The Start" performed by Alison Sudol, "The Hormone Song" performed by Elizabeth Banks and "Big Poppa" performed by Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, O'Kelly Isley, Jr., Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley, Chris Jasper and The Notorious B.I.G.

What to Expect When You're Expecting debuted in fifth place with $10.5 million. By the end of its run, What to Expect When You're Expecting grossed $41.2 million domestically, for a worldwide gross of $84.4 million.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 23% of 135 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "The cast is stocked with likable performers, but What to Expect When You're Expecting is too disjointed—and too reliant on stock rom-com cliches—to live up to its distinguished literary namesake." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 41 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. Cara Nash of the Australian film magazine Filmink gave the film a mixed review, criticizing the storyline as not having "complexity" or "genuine conflict", but praised Lopez and Banks who "manage to find the humanity in their clichéd roles but they can't transcend all the surface-level schmaltz on display here". Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film a negative review, stating that "the movie itself triggered the vomiting", but appreciated Rock, Kendrick and Crawford's performances "if you dramatically drop your expectations". Simon Miraudo of Quickflix called it "ill-conceived" and gave the film a mixed review while stating: "Despite an immensely appealing cast and a few funny moments, I would only recommend What to Expect at a 'push'. The eggs are there; someone just forgot to fertilise them." Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times among other critics noted the confusion of the swiftly moving film, writing that "Rather than the engaging enlightenment of the source, the film becomes bloated by confusion." New York Daily News gave the film 3 and a half stars, writing "Thankfully the film, unlike being a parent, is a fairly smooth and entertaining ride that has a universal appeal to both parents and those who ever had a father or a mother", and named the scene in which Jennifer Lopez's character travels to Ethiopia to meet the child she is adopting as the film's most touching moment. The Guardian's Mike McCahill described the movie as "insight-deficient fluff".