From a White House technology office PR:

By texting BABY to 511411 (or BEBE for Spanish), women 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 also connect women to prenatal and infant care services and other resources.

Text4baby founding partners include National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB), 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 free text messages.

“Text4baby is the first free mobile health service to be taken to scale in the United States,” said U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra. “We know that mobile phones hold tremendous potential to inform and empower individuals,” said Chopra. “Text4baby represents an extraordinary opportunity to expand the way we use our phones, to demonstrate the potential of mobile health technology, and make a real difference for moms and babies across the country.”

“We believe programs like text4baby are critical to providing much-needed information and support to pregnant women and new moms, especially among underserved populations,” said Brian D. Perkins, corporate vice president of corporate affairs for Johnson & Johnson, text4baby’s founding sponsor. “We hope this program not only helps reduce infant mortality rates but also serves as an example of how the private and public sectors can work together to solve problems.”

“Fifty percent of people with chronic health problems in the United States have Internet access, but 90 percent of Americans have mobile phones,” said Lynn O’Connor Vos, CEO of grey healthcare group. “That alone indicates the extraordinary impact mobile technology can have on health outcomes.”

The website for more info is text4baby.org.

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