Today, the Virginia Department of Health announced its participation in text4baby, a new free mobile phone information service providing timely health information to pregnant women and new mothers during pregnancy and through a baby’s first year. Virginia was the only state in the country to pilot text4baby. 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 vaccination, mental health, oral health and safe sleep. Text4baby messages also connect women to prenatal and infant care services and other resources.

“Education plays a critical role in preventing infant deaths and the more we engage organizations throughout our communities the more successful our initiatives will be,” said State Health Commissioner Karen Remley. “We’ve made some important gains in understanding this problem and it is critical that we share best practices nationwide.”

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.