Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced their daughter's birth through their charity in a growing celebrity trend

• Meghan Markle and Prince Harry announced the birth of their daughter through their new foundation.
• Amanda Seyfried and Katy Perry also announced the births of their children through charities.
• More celebrities are leveraging their life cycle events to support important causes.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcomed their second child, a daughter named Lilibet Diana, on June 4. They announced her birth two days later through their nonprofit foundation, Archewell, and requested donations to organizations that support women and girls in lieu of gifts.

Now living among the Hollywood elite in California, Markle and Harry appear to be taking notes from other celebrities who have leveraged highly anticipated news of their life cycle events to promote charitable causes.

In August 2020, Markle and Harry's Montecito neighbors Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom shared the birth of their daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom, through UNICEF and encouraged donations to support maternal healthcare. Both are UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors - Bloom became an ambassador in 2009, and Perry joined in 2013.

A post shared by UNICEF (@unicef)

"As UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors, we know UNICEF is there, on the ground, doing whatever it takes to make sure every expecting mother has access to a trained health worker and access to quality healthcare," the couple wrote in UNICEF's post. "In celebration of the heart we know our daughter already has, we have set up a donation page to celebrate DDB's arrival."

UNICEF media chief Najwa Mekki told Insider that the birth announcement raised awareness of maternal healthcare issues around the world.

"For us, these announcements are also a great opportunity to raise attention to issues affecting mothers and children in vulnerable countries," Mekki said. "In the case of Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, their baby's birth helped us shed light on how COVID-19 has led to a shortage of healthcare workers in some communities, putting mothers and newborn babies at risk."

Amanda Seyfried and Thomas Sadoski followed suit in September 2020, announcing the birth of their second child through the charities INARA and War Child, of which they are board members.

A post shared by INARA (@inaraorg)

"Since the birth of our daughter 3 years ago, our commitment to the innocent children that are so brutally affected by conflict and war has been a driving force in our lives," the couple wrote in an Instagram post published on both organizations' accounts. "With the birth of our son the work of INARA and War Child has become our North Star."

Barbara Harmer, War Child's director of creative partnerships and celebrity engagement, told Insider that Seyfried and Sadoski's birth announcement - which was the couple's idea - helped the organization receive "an enormous amount of positive press," which leads to new supporters.

"Sometimes it's an amplifying effect: people hear about us, learn more, follow us, and then when it comes to giving they think of us," Harmer said. "We do know that the more times people hear about us and our work, the more likely they are to give, and Tom and Amanda have been incredible champions in this respect (and are donors themselves)."

It's not just celebrity baby news that has helped boost donations

Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost announced their wedding through an Instagram post from Meals on Wheels in October 2020, asking for donations to "help make a difference for vulnerable older adults during this difficult time."

A post shared by Meals on Wheels America (@mealsonwheelsamerica)

TMZ reported that the wedding announcement raised $10,000 for Meals on Wheels in 24 hours via the donation link included in the Instagram post.

Since Markle and Harry no longer have an active social media presence - they stopped posting to their @sussexroyal account after stepping back from royal life in February 2020 - the couple communicates with the public by releasing statements through Archewell, named after their son Archie.

By sharing personal news through their nonprofit, Markle and Harry appear to be following their famous neighbors' leads by channeling widespread interest in their lives into supporting important causes. It's a strategy that works - upon requesting donations for Global Citizen for Archie's second birthday in May, they raised $3 million for vaccine equity.