February 8, 2010

NASSAU COUNTY PROMOTES TEXT4BABY

 

The Association of Perinatal Networks of New York, Inc. (APN) and the Nassau County Perinatal Services Network would like to introduce a new national mobile health initiative, text4baby. Each year in the United States, over 500,000 babies are born prematurely and an estimated 28,000 children die before their first birthday.  The goal of Text4Baby is to address a critical national health priority through the use of mobile health technology.

Text4baby is a free mobile information service designed to promote healthy birth outcomes among underserved populations.  An educational program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition, text4baby will help women have safe and healthy pregnancies by providing them with information they need to give their babies the best possible start in life. 

Pregnant women and new moms are encouraged to sign up for this free service by texting BABY to 511411 (or BEBE for Spanish) and will receive free SMS text messages each week, timed to their due date or baby’s date of birth. These messages focus on a variety of topics critical to maternal and child health and can also connect women to early prenatal care.

Text4baby is made possible through a broad, public-private partnership that includes government and tribal agencies, corporations, academic institutions, professional associations, and non-profit organizations.  Coordinating partners include National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition, Johnson & Johnson, Voxiva, the CTIA Wireless Foundation, WPP, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Johnson & Johnson is the founding sponsor.  The mobile health platform is provided by Voxiva and free messaging services are generously provided by participating U.S. Mobile Operators and Verisign.  Implementation and evaluation support is provided by BabyCenter and the George Washington University. 

For additional information, please contact the Nassau County Health Department Perinatal Services Network at 516.227.9456 or visit www.text4baby.org.