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Regular Session, 2012
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 84
BY REPRESENTATIVES KATRINA JACKSON, ARMES, ARNOLD, BADON,
BARROW, BROSSETT, BROWN, BURRELL, CHAMPAGNE, DI XON,
HENSGENS, HONORE, HUNTER, NANCY LANDRY, LEBAS, LEGER,
MORENO, JAY MORRIS, ORTEGO, SCHRODER, WHI TNEY, AND
WILLMOTT AND SENATOR DORSEY-COLOMB
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals and the Louisiana Hospital
Association to promote and encourage public hospitals, hospitals receiving state
funding, and medical clinics to promote the Text4baby initiative in Louisiana.
WHEREAS, Text4baby is a free health text messaging educational program started
by the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB) which delivers timely
health advice via text message to those who need it most; and
WHEREAS, Text4baby is designed to help more pregnant women and new mothers
increase their knowledge about caring for their health and providing their babies the best
possible start in life; and
WHEREAS, Text4baby is made possible by a unique collaboration of organizations
in both the public and private sectors, including the founding partners HMHB, Voxiva,
CTIA the Wireless Foundation, Grey Healthcare Group, and founding corporate sponsor
Johnson & Johnson along with the United States government partners which include the
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Department of Health and
Human Services; and
WHEREAS, over eighty-five percent of Americans own a cellular phone and
seventy-two percent of cellular phone users send or receive text messages; and
WHEREAS, Text4baby supports mothers by providing accurate, weekly, text-length
health information and resources that are timed to a woman's due date or the baby's date of
birth; and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 84
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WHEREAS, pregnant women and new mothers who text "BABY", or "BEBE" for
Spanish, to 511411 receive weekly text messages throughout their pregnancy and up until
the baby's first birthday; and
WHEREAS, the text messages provide information on a variety of topics critical to
maternal and child health, including but not limited to developmental milestones,
immunization, nutrition, mental health, and safety; and
WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that more
than a half million babies in the United States or one in every eight births are premature each
year; and
WHEREAS, according to the CDC, premature birth is the most frequent cause of
infant death, the leading cause of long-term neurological disabilities in children, and costs
the United States health care system more than twenty-six billion dollars each year; and
WHEREAS, a part of the Text4baby initiative is to help decrease the number of
premature births, which can be caused by poor nutrition, excessive stress, and smoking; and
WHEREAS, the health tips sent via Text4baby will include information on risk
factors, consequences, and opportunities for preventing premature births; and
WHEREAS, Text4baby messages also connect women to health resources through
the inclusion of national hotline telephone numbers within the messages.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals to promote and encourage public
hospitals, hospitals receiving state funding, and medical clinics to promote the Text4baby
initiative in Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals and the president and chief executive
officer of the Louisiana Hospital Association.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE