When this Grandma was a new mother, I had little information at my fingertips. Dr. Spock was it. Yes, we too felt that our parents were into olden times and old ideas. It actually took until I became a grandma to realize that sometimes the old ideas are the best. I now use so much of what my mother recommended, especially as I come out of my epsom salt bath. Okay, now it has lavender added to it!
This Grandma always recommends that we grandmas keep up with what the parents of our grandchildren now have access to. “What To Expect When You are Expecting,” was their go-to book. Then came the websites that sent emails every day. Smart phones now control our lives and it was just a matter of time that text would be the means by which we receive baby information.
Now, even the CDC (U.S. Center for Disease Control approves of the newest technology: Text4Baby. This is from the CDC website!
“What is text4baby?”
“Text4baby is a free cell phone text messaging service for pregnant women and new moms. Text messages are sent three times a week with information on how to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. The text messages are timed to the pregnant woman’s due date or the baby’s date of birth.”
“The free text messages provide tips on subjects including breastfeeding, car seat safety, developmental milestones, emotional well being, exercise and fitness, immunizations, labor and delivery, nutrition, prenatal care, safe sleep, and stop smoking. The text messages also provide 1-800 numbers and other resources to learn more.. . .”
“Who leads text4baby?”
“Text4baby is an education campaign of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB). HMHB works with a broad range of partners to encourage the women they reach to take advantage of this free service. CDC, as an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, is one of over 700 partners supporting text4baby.”
“Who develops the text messages?”
“Text4baby pregnancy and infant messages are developed by HMHB in collaboration with federal partners, physicians and nurses and national medical organizations. How can we become a text4baby outreach partner? . . . .
“Are the text messages in English and Spanish?”
“Yes. The text messages are in English and Spanish. Participants can sign up for text4baby in English by texting BABY to 511411. They can sign up for text4baby in Spanish by texting BEBE to 511411.” “How long will women receive free text messages?”
“Text4baby is designed for pregnant women through their pregnancy and the first year of their baby’s life. To stop receiving texts from the text4Baby service, users simply text the word STOP to 511411 from the same phone they use to get the messages.”
We grandmas need to sign up for Text4Baby as well as the parents to be. It gives us the most up to date information too. It also provides non controversal conversation with the parents to be. If we try to tell them of our ideas, they will reject those as old fashioned. If we promote the Text4Baby ideas, we now are hip, or phat, or whatever the new word is for cool.
And we grandmas always want to be cool. Forever young and cool with
Joy,
Mema
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