INDIANAPOLIS — Expecting and new mothers have traditionally turned to other women for advice on caring for their babies. Now they can look to their cellphones, too.
Text4Baby Indiana, a free service, sends messages three times a week to subscribers, providing aid with everything from birth defects to breast-feeding to car safety seats. The service spans the first year of a child's life.
On Friday, the Indiana Minority Health Coalition announced a statewide awareness campaign about Text4Baby, which draws upon a national program created by the National Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies Coalition and sponsored by Johnson and Johnson.
Messages can be sent in English or Spanish.
About 9,000 Indiana mothers and soon-to-be mothers already subscribe, including Dion Cushingberry.
About six months pregnant at the time she signed up, Cushingberry heard about Text4Baby from a friend. The first-time mom appreciated the tips she got about nutrition, reminders to take her vitamins, and even information on false labor.
The information has proved equally helpful since the arrival of Deserai five weeks ago, providing help with things such as soothing her baby girl.
"There's a lot of information you wouldn't think to ask your doctor," she said. "It's been a great experience for me."
Cushingberry, 30, even encouraged her mother, who helps care for Deserai, to sign up for the service.
Nationwide, about 400,000 women use the program, which was launched in February 2010, said Carl Ellison, vice president and chief operating officer of the Indiana Minority Health Coalition. About two-thirds of those women are pregnant.
No other state, however, has launched a concerted campaign to get the word out to mothers, he said. The health coalition has a $250,000 federal grant to support its efforts. These include a public service announcement trailer in 181 movie theaters across the state (shown before "What to Expect When You're Expecting") as well as radio and cable spots on shows such as "Pregnant and 16."
"Anything we can do to get the message out again and again," Ellison said.
The coalition will track whether the campaign leads to additional users. Ellison said his group hopes to reach about 20,000 users in Indiana.
State and county health officials hailed the new service.
"This is a tremendous opportunity. You have only so much success with your traditional methods," said Dr. Virginia A. Caine, director of the Marion County Health Department. "This is a new generation, and they have been brought up differently in terms of what appeals to them."
Health text messages could be the wave of the future. Caine said her department is applying for a grant that would allow it to establish a similar program centering around obesity.
To sign up, text the word "Baby," or "Bebe" for Spanish messages, to 511411. You can follow the program on Twitter at (at)mytext4baby. For more information, visit text4baby in.blogspot.com or call the coalition at (317) 926-4011 .
