Baby Your Baby: Serving Utah Moms and Babies for 20 YearsClick here to view the full magazine articleYou may see the ads on TV or hear them on the radio. And, when you hear the name "Baby Your Baby™", you know the information you're listening to is important for all Utah mothers and their little bundles of joy. Baby Your Baby (BYB) was created by the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) in 1987 and was born out of the need to help Utah women get early and adequate prenatal care. Within one year of the program's launch, Utah's fetal, infant, and perinatal death rates fell significantly - the largest drop in Utah history. Because of the overwhelming success of the program, UDOH expanded Baby Your Baby to include education messages about infant and toddler care, nutrition, folic acid to prevent birth defects, putting babies on their backs to sleep, and the importance of oral health for even the youngest children. Today, Baby Your Baby is reminding women to see a health care provider before their 13th week of pregnancy and to visit him or her at least 13 times throughout their pregnancy. Over the years, the Baby Your Baby media campaign has been honored with more than 50 awards, including The National Association of Governors award for the "Best Outreach Program in America" and the prestigious "Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies National Achievement award" for the Best Sustained Public Information Program in America. Baby Your Baby is a partnership between the Utah Department of Health, Intermountain Healthcare and KUTV 2News.
Baby Your Baby HotlineThe Baby Your Baby toll-free hotline offers prenatal and well child treatment information and referrals for parents who need financial help. In 2007, Baby Your Baby answered more than 22,000 calls. The hotline is available at 1-800-826-9662 Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m., excluding state and federal holidays.
Financial HelpBaby Your Baby helps women who qualify pay for prenatal care. Mothers can find out if they are eligible to receive financial aid by visiting www.babyyourbaby.org or by calling the hotline.
EducationBaby Your Baby provides the latest information on women's health before, during and after pregnancy, as well as infant and toddler care through the BYB website, newborn newsletters and the BYB Health Keepsake. Health care experts from Intermountain Healthcare and the Utah Department of Health provide advice on a variety of pregnancy-related topics during programs and special reports on KUTV.
How the Public Can HelpEncourage women you know to breastfeed their babies. Babies who are breastfed have fewer ear infections, are less constipated, and are at lower risk for allergies, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and obesity when they are a child. Moms who breastfeed are also healthier themselves. They have less bleeding after childbirth, lose weight sooner and are at lower risk for certain cancers. Breastfeeding is also better for the environment and it saves money and time. For breastfeeding support, call Baby Your Baby or visit www.utahbreastfeeding.org.You can also help by encouraging all women to take care of their bodies and to be in the best health possible before getting pregnant. More than half of all pregnancies in Utah are unplanned. This means all women in their childbearing years need to take a multivitamin containing at least 400mc of folic acid every day to help prevent birth defects. It also means mothers need to take the time to plan and space pregnancies appropriately so they recover completely and lose any weight from prior pregnancies. Visit http://www.babyyourbaby.org for more information on these topics. The public can also get involved by helping to support BYB partners like the March of Dimes Teddy Bear Den (TBD). The TBD encourages low-income women to get needed prenatal care and well child visits for their children every year. New moms who follow the program earn "points" for getting prenatal care and taking good care of themselves and their babies, and they use those points to shop for baby care items at the Teddy Bear Den.
The TBD needs help to keep its shelves stocked with diapers, wipes, bathing supplies, blankets, new or homemade baby
clothing and other necessary items for babies up to age 2. Providing these materials means that many of these women
won't have to choose between buying diapers or paying the electric bill. For more information on how you can help the
Teddy Bear Den, call the March of Dimes at 801-746-5540, or contact Marie Nagata at 801-538-6519.
|
