Expectant mothers now have a new resource for health information with the launch of text4baby.

The new free mobile health service offers timely and expert health information through text messages to pregnant women and new moms through their babies’ first year.

The text4baby initiative is a partnership between the U.S. government and a number of corporate sponsors including all the major wireless carriers.

By texting BABY to 511411 (or BEBE for Spanish), women receive three free text messages each week timed to their due date or baby’s date of birth. The messages focus on a variety of topics including birth defects prevention, immunization, nutrition, seasonal flu, mental health, oral health and safe sleep. The 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.

U.S. government partners include the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense Military Health System.

"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."

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