Text4baby

Each year in the U.S., more than 500,000 babies are born prematurely and an estimated 28,000 children die before their first birthday. In response to this national public health crisis, the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB) has launched text4baby, a free mobile information service that provides pregnant women and new moms with information to help them care for their health and give their babies the best possible start in life.

Messages cover topics critical to maternal and child health, including birth defects prevention, immunization, nutrition, seasonal flu, mental health, oral health and safe sleep. Text4baby messages also connect women to prenatal and infant care services and other resources.

The program was officially launched in February 2010 by U.S. Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra. Since then, over 100,000 people have signed up for text4baby, over six million messages have been sent, and more than 400 partners, including national, state, business, academic, non-profit, and others, have signed on to promote the service.

Learn more at text4baby.org.

Register for Free

Register online at text4baby.org, or from your cell phone. Simply text the word BABY (or BEBE for Spanish) to 511411. You’ll be asked to enter your baby’s due date or your baby’s birthday and your zip code.

You’ll then start receiving free messages with tips for your pregnancy and caring for your baby. These messages are timed to your due date or your baby’s birth date. If your due date changes, you can text UPDATE to 511411 and enter your new due date.

Text4baby Partners

Text4baby is made possible through a broad, public-private partnership that includes government, corporations, academic institutions, professional associations, tribal agencies and non-profit organizations. Founding partners are National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition, Voxiva, CTIA-The Wireless Foundation and Grey Healthcare Group (a WPP company). Johnson & Johnson is the founding sponsor, and premier sponsors include WellPoint, Pfizer and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. U.S. government partners include the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense Military Health System and the Department of Agriculture. The mobile health platform is provided by Voxiva and free messaging services are generously provided by participating wireless service providers. Implementation partners include Syniverse Technologies, BabyCenter, Danya International, Keynote Systems and The George Washington University. MTV Networks is a media sponsor.

Below is the list of the participating carriers as of November 2010:

• Alltel
• Assurance Wireless
• AT&T
• Bluegrass Cellular
• Boost Mobile
• Cellcom
• Cellular South
• Centennial Cellular
• Cincinnati Bell
• Cricket Mobile
• Metro PCS
• nTelos
• Nex-Tech Wireless
• Sprint Nextel
• T-Mobile
• U.S. Cellular
• Verizon Wireless
• Virgin Mobile USA

Text4baby Awarded for Innovation

As a testament to the success of the program in reaching traditionally underserved populations, text4baby was recognized as one of the Department of Health and Human Services Innovates award recipients.