United Way of Madison County Partners with Free Mobile Health Service

United Way of Madison County announced that it has become a partner of text4baby –a new free mobile information service providing timely health information to pregnant women and new moms from pregnancy through a baby’s first year.

Women who sign up for the service by texting BABY to 511411 (or BEBE for Spanish) receive three 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, including birth defects prevention, immunization, nutrition, seasonal flu, mental health, oral health and safe sleep.  Text4baby messages connect women to prenatal and infant care services and other resources by providing contact information and websites where mothers can obtain more information.

United Way of Madison County has been working with its county and state partners as part of the Covering Kids & Families Coalition to display posters, distribute flyers and to promote enrollment in the program to all eligible mothers. Promotional materials have been handed out to the local FSSA office, hospitals, non-profit organizations and physician offices in an effort to promote the program to all pregnant women and new mothers in Madison County. Promotional materials and additional information are available by contacting Jamesey Thomas, director of health initiatives, United Way of Madison County, 765-643-7493.   

Text4baby educational program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB), text4baby delivers timely health tips via text message to those who need it most.  It is made possible through an unprecedented public-private partnership which includes the White House Office on Science and Technology Policy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense Military Health System, Voxiva, CTIA-The Wireless Foundation, Grey Healthcare Group (a WPP company) and founding corporate sponsor Johnson & Johnson.  Premier sponsors include WellPoint, Pfizer and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield and wireless carriers are distributing text messages at no charge to recipients.  Implementation partners include BabyCenter, Danya International, Syniverse Technologies, Keynote Systems and The George Washington University. MTV Networks is a media sponsor.

The text4baby wireless carriers are voluntarily providing the critical communications link of the initiative, distributing text messages to recipients at no charge.  Participating carriers include: Alltel, AT&T, Cellular South, Cellcom, Centennial Cellular, Cincinnati Bell, Metro PCS, N-Telos, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Verizon and Virgin Mobile.