State Enrollment Contest Winner: New Hampshire
In 2008, 13,683 babies were born in New Hampshire. Unfortunately, 9.6% of births were pre-term, 6.5% of babies were born at a low birth weight, and 5.9 babies per 1,000 died before their first birthday. These statistics highlight the need for innovative strategies at the national and state level to address maternal and child health, including the provision of accurate and timely health information.
2011 State Enrollment Contest
The goal of the text4baby State Enrollment Contest was to reach users through healthy competition among the states and engagement of the over 675 text4baby Outreach Partners. The top three states that enrolled the most users in text4baby (as a percentage of possible new enrollees) between May 10 and October 20, 2011 were announced on November 1 at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The states were ranked based on how many new users enrolled in text4baby in each state during the contest period as a percentage of eligible moms (based on a calculation of estimated new pregnancies and live births for each state).
Enrollment Numbers
During the contest period, a total of 532 new users enrolled in the text4baby service in New Hampshire. With a 42% increase, total users went from 1,263 to 1,795 during the contest period. Based on live births data, we estimated the number of new pregnancies and live births occurred each week during the contest period. New Hampshire came in 2nd place by enrolling an estimated 4.4% (or 44 per 1,000) of the eligible moms.
Promotional Activities During Contest Period
New Hampshire has done an exceptional job at involving multiple state partners in shared promotional initiatives. The New Hampshire Text4baby Coalition (NH Coalition), led by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (NHDHHS) WIC and Maternal and Child Health Divisions, has had great success by building on existing contacts and networks, focusing on low-cost promotional activities, and having the sustained regular engagement of a champion from each partner organization. First the team reached out to all their colleagues to get as many agencies and organizations as possible involved in promoting text4baby. Each program worked within their own networks to promote the service to target groups through, retail and private sector partners, public association websites, publications, local radio, and more. They then reached out to community partners and stakeholders to get buy-in and raise awareness of text4baby.
The New Hampshire Division of Public Health also recently worked with the Office of Early Childhood Education at the Department of Education and public schools to increase awareness of the service. The NH DHHS’s WIC and MCH Program have been active in printing customized text4baby posters and flyers, mailing materials, conducting outreach events, and facilitating conversations with district offices and local doctors around the state to increase awareness and promote text4baby.
Through strategic networking and collaboration they have built a strong state coalition to leverage text4baby promotion. New Hampshire plans on continuing networking and outreach to current audiences, as well as targeting some new groups such as major insurance providers.
Text4baby State Partners:
• New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
• Ammonoosuc Community Health Services, Inc.
• Goodwin Community Health
• The Community Action Program Belknap-Merrimack Counties, Inc.
• Coos County Family Health Services
• Good Beginnings
• Lamprey Health Care
• New Hampshire Department of Education, Office of Early Childhood Education
• New Hampshire Healthy Kids Corporation
• New Hampshire Minority Health Coalition
• Southwestern Community Services
• The Hub Family Resource Center
For more information, please contact:
Lissa Sirois
New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
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603-271-0571