Text4baby Announces Winners of the State Enrollment Contest
Delaware, New Hampshire and North Carolina declared winners.
WASHINGTON, DC, November 1, 2011 – Since May of this year all fifty states and the District of Columbia have participated in the text4baby State Enrollment Contest, a friendly competition to encourage women to enroll in the free service that provides weekly text messages with tips on labor, delivery, nutrition, immunization and birth defect prevention, among other topics. The state contest grew out of the enthusiasm of over 650 text4baby partners nationwide and their support for promoting text4baby as a valuable tool for improving maternal and infant health. Throughout the contest, all partners were able to regularly monitor their progress by accessing subscriber enrollment data by zip code through a text4baby web portal.
The winners of the State Contest were announced today by Sarah Ingersoll, text4baby Campaign Director, during the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. Todd Park, Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provided introductory remarks at the event.
The winning states:
1. Delaware. Delaware increased enrollment by 97% with a diversified approach combining media outreach, a statewide mini-contest, and targeted distribution of text4baby materials to every obstetrician in the state.
2. New Hampshire. Through strategic networking and collaboration, New Hampshire partners built a strong state coalition to leverage text4baby promotion.
3. North Carolina. Through radio Public Service Announcements and the first text4baby television PSAs, North Carolina enrolled more than 4,700 new users during the contest period.
The U.S. Virgin Islands received an honorable mention for the role the Governor’s office and the Community Foundation have had in hosting events and promoting the service throughout the territory.
“I’d like to congratulate the winners of the State Contest and express my sincere appreciation to all of the partners who promote text4baby,” said Judy Meehan, CEO of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition.
Delaware, New Hampshire, and North Carolina will each receive a sponsored luncheon during a congratulatory local event to celebrate their achievements in support of text4baby. The State Enrollment Contest was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National WIC Association, Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP), National Healthy Start Association (NHSA), March of Dimes, National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), National Alliance for Hispanic Health, and CityMatCH.
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About text4baby
By simply texting "BABY" (or “BEBE” for information in Spanish) to 511411, women can register to receive weekly text messages, timed to their individual due dates or their baby's birth date throughout their pregnancy and baby’s first year. The tips and messages have been developed in collaboration with government and nonprofit health experts. Text4baby is made possible through a public-private partnership that includes government, corporations, academic institutions, professional associations, tribal agencies and non-profit organizations. Johnson & Johnson is the founding sponsor. Founding partners include the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition, Voxiva, CTIA - The Wireless Foundation, and Grey Healthcare Group (a WPP company). U.S. government partners are the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense Military Health System, and the US Department of Agriculture. The mobile health platform is provided by Voxiva, and free messaging services are generously provided by participating wireless service providers. Implementation partners include BabyCenter, Danya International, Syniverse Technologies, Keynote Systems, and The George Washington University. MTV Networks is a media sponsor.
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