TexT4baby / by Alexandra E. King

2 TexT4baby / by Alexandra E. King 3 Take a seaT / by Bridget Meade contents 3 healThy home 4 yoUR GUide To bR 5 healThy families easTfeedinG sUCCess / by Kate Thomas 6 PRoTeCTion sTaRTs wiTh The fiRsT shoT / by Paige Gore 8 sCReen TesT / by Bridget Meade 9 baby’s fiRsT TesT 10 newboRn heaRinG sCReeninG / by Alexandra E. King 11 a family’s JoURney wiTh heaRinG loss / by Bridget Meade 12 sleeP like a baby / by Alexandra E. King 13 The PeRiod of PURPle CRyinG 13 safe haVen 14 TakinG CaRe of mommy / by Kate Thomas 15 yoUR Child aT yeaR 1 16 ResoURCes

text4baby

An exciting new way to get important information to support a child’s healthy development

by Alex A ndr A e . King

Did you just find out that you’re pregnant? Are you concerned about your infant’s nutrition? Want quick tips to help you have a healthy pregnancy and healthy first year for your baby? Expectant or new moms can easily get the information they need through a free service on their cell phones: text4baby. Launched in February 2010, text4baby is a national service that delivers important information to mothers concerning their pregnancies and the first year of their baby’s life. This service sends information about pregnancy and newborn babies as accurate and friendly text messages covering topics such as immunizations, mental health, car seats, breastfeeding, oral health, baby check-ups, safety, developmental milestones and nutrition.

REGISTER

Text4baby is free and women can register at text4baby.org or by texting BABY (or BEBE for Spanish) to the number 511411. Those signed up for the service receive free timely messages with tips about pregnancy and caring for your baby. When registering, users will be asked to provide their zip code and their baby’s due date or birth date. Text4baby uses this information to deliver messages that are useful at the appropriate times. Information in the texts have been developed by physicians, nurses and national medical organizations to provide the best information.

Expecting moms will receive SMS text messages with information timed to the due date of their baby.

NO COST

Text4baby is available to anyone with a cell phone that is set up for text messaging. Pre-paid cell phones and pay-as-you-go cell phones can also access the text4baby information service as long as they are subscribed to one of the text4baby mobile operating partners. A list of mobile operating partners can be found at text4baby.org under “partners.” Text4baby is able to provide free text messages to anyone with participating carriers even if their plan does not include text messaging. Additionally, text4baby will not take away from plans with limited texts per month.

NO ADS; OPTING OUT IS EASY

Text4baby is user-friendly and does not send advertisements or share participant information with anyone. Any time a user wants to stop the service, they text the word “STOP” to 511411. Text4baby is an exciting and innovative way for millions of pregnant women and new moms across the country to get the most important information they need to support their child’s healthy development. If you’re an expectant or new mom or you know one and want to learn more, go to www.text4baby.org.