Partnering to Promote Healthy Babies

Public-private partnerships have been critical to the success of text4baby, the nation’s first free health text messaging service aimed at improving the health of new mothers and their infants. In this Promising Practices in Maternal and Child Health fact sheet, NIHCM Foundation highlights how health plans and health plan foundations support text4baby and suggests ways plans and foundations can partner with state and local governments and community organizations to further promote the service. Health insurers such as Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, Aetna, and 75 other commercial and Medicaid health plans are important and active partners in developing innovative strategies to encourage pregnant women and new mothers to sign up for text4baby.