FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Monday, November 23, 2015
CONTACT:  Colleen Winter, (605) 773-3737  

                                      South Dakota Top Small State In Text4Baby Enrollment

PIERRE, S.D. – For the third time in four years South Dakota has won the Text4Baby enrollment contest, leading  the nation in getting pregnant women signed up to receive free health and safety information via text message. Text4Baby texts information about prenatal care, baby health, parenting and more throughout pregnancy and during baby’s first year.

South Dakota enrolled the highest rate of new users among new pregnancies and births of the 13 states with the smallest number of births.
 
“Text4Baby is a great resource on a wide range of pregnancy health and parenting topics – pregnant women, expectant fathers and even grandparents can benefit from it,” said Colleen Winter, family and community health administrator for the Department of Health. “Its ultimate goal is healthier moms and babies and we’re happy to help make it available here in South Dakota.”

South Dakota received its award Nov. 2 in Chicago at the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting. Virginia led the large state category and Oklahoma was the top medium-sized state. Together the three winning states enrolled a combined 7,474 expectant women and new mothers in Text4Baby services. Over 58,600 moms across the country enrolled in the service during the 2015 contest period.

The Department of Health promotes Text4Baby in its local offices and works with other providers to encourage women to enroll. A summary of South Dakota’s efforts can be found at https://partners.text4baby.org/index.php/news. Learn more about Text4Baby at http://text4baby.org/.

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Photo caption:  Dr. Bonny Specker and Dr. Wei Bai of SDSU’s EA Martin Program accept South Dakota’s award at the American Public Health Association conference.