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Press Release: 2010

Select Health Battles Infant Mortality One Text at a Time

Partnership with text4baby provides health tips to pregnant women and new moms

Select Health of South Carolina today announced a new outreach partnership with the national text4baby program, a mobile phone information service designed to promote the health of pregnant women and their babies.  Pregnant women who sign up for the text4baby service receive free text messages with tailored health information according to the due date of their baby.  Text4baby continues through a baby’s first year with text messages also being sent to new mothers who are enrolled in the program.

“Select Health is very proud to be part of the text4baby program,” said J. Michael Jernigan, president and chief executive officer of Select Health.  “Infant mortality is a very serious issue in South Carolina, particularly in areas where access to prenatal care is limited.  Text4baby provides an easy, innovative way for mothers in underserved populations to receive beneficial health information that can significantly improve their health as well as the health of their child.”

The text4baby messages focus on a variety of health issues critical to maternal and child health including birth defects, prevention, immunization, nutrition, seasonal flu, oral health and safe sleep.  During pregnancy, moms receive messages about what to expect at different stages of the pregnancy as well as tips emphasizing the importance of prenatal care.  Text4baby messages will also help connect women to prenatal and infant care services and resources in their area.

Over 575 women in South Carolina have signed up to receive text4baby messages since the program began in February 2010.

Text4baby is an educational program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB) and is made possible through a unique public-private partnership which includes the White House Office of 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, Johnson & Johnson, and many other partners.

To sign up for the text4baby service, pregnant or new moms should text BABY (or BEBE for Spanish) to 511411.

About Select Health
Incorporated in 1995, Select Health was licensed as a Health Maintenance Organization by the South Carolina Department of Insurance in 1996.  Later that year, the company contracted with the Department of Health and Human Services to offer First Choice, the state’s first Medicaid health plan. Select Health is a wholly owned subsidiary of AmeriHealth Mercy. The AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies touches the lives of more than 6.5 million members nationwide.

About Text4baby
Text4baby is a free mobile information service designed to promote maternal and child health. An educational program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB), text4baby provides pregnant women and new moms with information to help them care for their health and give their babies the best possible start in life. Women who sign up for the service by texting BABY to 511411 (or BEBE in Spanish) will receive free SMS text messages each week, timed to their due date or baby’s date of birth.  Text4baby is made possible through a broad, public-private partnership that includes government, corporations, academic institutions, professional associations, tribal agencies and non-profit organizations.