The National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB) was an American

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

founded in 1981 in response to the

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's conference on

infant mortality Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five morta ...

. The mission was to improve the quality and reach of public and professional education related to prenatal and infant care.HMHB website
retrieved November 23, 2011 The six lead organizations establishing HMHB were the

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is a professional association of physicians specializing in obstetrics and gynecology in the United States. Several Latin American countries are also represented within Districts of ...

(ACOG), the

March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to comba ...

, the

American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is an American professional association of pediatricians, headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It maintains its Department of Federal Affairs office in Washington, D.C. Background The Academy was founded ...

(AAP), the

American Nurses Association The American Nurses Association (ANA) is a 501(c)(6) professional organization to advance and protect the profession of nursing. It started in 1896 as the Nurses Associated Alumnae and was renamed the American Nurses Association in 1911. It is ba ...

(ANA), the National Congress of Parents and Teachers, and the

United States Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant S ...

. HMHB’s mission evolved into a movement to improve the health and safety of mothers, babies and families through educational materials and

collaborative partnerships Collaborative partnerships are agreements and actions made by consenting organizations to share resources to accomplish a mutual goal. Collaborative partnerships rely on participation by at least two parties who agree to share resources, such as ...

. The coalition had membership of over 100 local, state and national organizations and does outreach, education and advocacy with healthcare professionals, parents and policymakers. Among the coalition’s goals: reducing infant mortality,

premature birth Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 weeks, very early preterm birth is between 2 ...

and postpartum depression, as well as other health and safety issues facing mothers and infants. In May 2015, the organization's operations moved to ZERO TO THREE, the National Center for Infants, Toddler and Families (ZTT).

Text4baby

On February 4, 2010,

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and Associate Director of the White House

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Aneesh Chopra Aneesh Paul Chopra (born July 13, 1972) is an American executive who served as the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States. He was appointed in 2009 by President Barack Obama and was at the White House through 2012. Chopra previously ...

announced the launch of Text4baby, an educational program of HMHB developed through a broad public-private partnership. The mobile health service promotes maternal and child health among underserved women. Text4baby is the first-ever free mobile health service in the United States. It provides scientifically-reviewed health tips, reminders and information about community resources, delivered via SMS text messages sent to the mobile phones of subscribing women. Messages are timed to the mother’s stage of pregnancy or the baby’s date of birth. Pregnant women and new mothers subscribe to the service by texting BABY to 511411. Mothers enroll in the Spanish-language Text4baby service by texting BEBE TO 511411. In addition to HMHB, Text4baby founding partners include Voxiva, CTIA-The Wireless Foundation (whose wireless carrier members distribute the CMS text messages for free), grey healthcare group and founding corporate sponsor Johnson & Johnson. Sponsors include WellPoint, Pfizer, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. U.S. government partners include the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense Military Health System. Implementation partners include BabyCenter, LLC, Danya International, Syniverse Technologies, Keynote Systems and The George Washington University. MTV Networks is a media sponsor. In August 2010, Text4baby won the “Secretary’s Pick” HHS Innovates Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In June 2011, Text4baby won the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) Best of Silver Anvil Award. On May 4, 2015 Text4baby's operations moved to ZERO TO THREE, the National Center for Infants, Toddlers & Families (ZTT).

Controversies

In October 2007, HMHB was part of a Maternal Nutrition Group made up of academics in obstetrics and nutritionists that released recommendations on seafood consumption during pregnancy. This recommendation conflicted with official public health advice from EPA/FDA, due to the amount of

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found in seafood posing a risk to fetal and newborn brain development. HMHB received a $70,000 donation from the

National Fisheries Institute The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) is the United States industry trade group representing the seafood industry. It is a member of the International Coalition of Fisheries Associations (ICFA). Its member companies consist of all levels of busin ...

, an industry group formed to promote eating seafood, prior to releasing this recommendation.

Footnotes

External links

HMHB Official Web Site

text4baby Official Web Site
{{Authority control Medical and health organizations based in the United States Organizations established in 1981 Defunct organizations based in the United States Maternity in the United States Infant mortality