Given the choice between text messaging and an actual phone conversation, I’d choose the phone every time just like many other GenXers. However, the Millennial Generation, the parents of my patients, embrace texting as a primary form of communication. I know this because during check ups, dad or older sibling are sometimes seated in the corner texting away while I talk with mom. Rarely, mom herself is texting while I talk with her child. It’s annoying, but with a gentle reminder, families save their conversations until I leave the room.
The Times They Are A-Changin’ to borrow from another generation. Maybe text messaging will start to help instead of hinder my communication with parents. Now I can suggest a texting service to gently remind them of their basic health care needs. Text4Baby is free and geared to pregnant women and mothers of children less than one year of age. Mom need only text 511411 “baby” to receive 3 text messages per week about relevant topics based on her child’s age or her delivery date.
Information about:
- immunizations
- nutrition
- prenatal care
- drugs, alcohol and smoking cessation
- emotional well being and mental health
- feeding and breast feeding
- car seat safety
- safe sleep
- oral health
- labor & delivery and pregnancy symptoms & warnings
- exercise
- developmental milestones
- family violence
The program made possible my the US Government, telecom companies, for profit and not for profit organizations provides evidence based information without advertisements. It was started one year ago and already about 95% of the 100,000 plus users would recommend it to a friend.
As a pediatrician who cares for many families that do not have internet access in the home but use a cell phone (90% of americans own mobile phones), I am excited about telling my patients about this service.
Text messages like:
- It’s normal for new moms to feel tired & overwhelmed. But if you’re crying a lot or feeling anxious or hopeless, please call 800-944-4773 for help.
- Keeping your baby’s mouth clean is important even before she has teeth! Wipe her gums each day with a wet washcloth or use a soft baby toothbrush.
- Your baby is 3 months old! You should see her begin to smile, enjoy playing with other people, bring her hands to her mouth & grab and shake toys.
are no replacement for face to face well visits, but they help enforce the need for trips to the doctor and preventive care. Too often I see families for emergency room follow up and lapsed immunizations rather than for check ups. There is no way to “catch up” on a visit that is already focused on illness.
Text messaging has been used to remind pediatric diabetics to take their insulin and liver transplant patients to take their immunosuppressive therapy with improved outcomes. In Kenya, HIV patients who received a weekly text: “How are you?” with nurse follow up for those who failed to respond or needed help, showed increased compliance with anti-viral medications and decreased viral load. Text reminders even helped people remember to apply their sunscreen. Studies are still underway to to examine how texting might help patients with cystic fibrosis and inflammatory bowel disease.
Text4Baby is somewhat novel in that it is designed for healthy women and children not for treatment of a chronic disease. In addition, the messages are generic and may not be as effective as a personal message sent from a familiar nurse or physician, but it’s a start. Until HIPAA catches up and my organization gets a system to easily text personal information, Text4Baby is a great way to see how text messaging can serve the next generation.
