Text4Baby Gives Pregnant and New Mothers Helpful Reminders

Mamis-to-be are getting some extra help with text4baby, a free mobile information service for pregnant and new moms. This educational program sends moms who sign up for their program, free weekly text messages that give helpful reminders and tips for your pregnancy and caring for your baby through his or her first year.

So far 135,000 women have signed up for this service, which celebrates its first anniversary this month. Managed by The National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Baby Coalition, text4baby has received support from hundreds of partners in both the private and public sector. The goal of the program is to provide women with resources and the information they need to deliver and raise healthy babies.

The program is available in English and Spanish. All you have to do to sign up is send the text message BABY for English, or BEBE for Spanish to 511411. Afterwards, you will be prompted to enter some information, like your baby's birthdate, so that your weekly messages will be customized to be relevant to your stage of pregnancy or baby's age.

For more information about text4baby, you can visit their website at www.text4baby.org. The New York Times also ran a great in-depth article about the program, which I encourage you to read.

Con cariño...

Latinas and Folic Acid

This week is Folic Acid Awareness Week. And, as I have commented on this topic before, I was not surprised to read Latinas are the least likely group of expectant moms to be taking Folic Acid during their pregnancies. In a statement issued by the March of Dimes, only 17% of Latinas of childbearing age are taking a daily multivitamin. Combined with the fact that Latinas, as a group, are most likely to get pregnant before the age of 20 (more than half of which are unplanned pregnancies,) and voilá - you have the group with the highest rate of nerual tube defects in their newborn babies.

Actually, I had forgotten some stuff about which foods contain high levels of this vitamin. Did you know breakfast cereals are a great source of folic acid? If you'd like to "test" your Folic Acid IQ, the March of Dimes has a great little quiz here.

The good thing is, I have always been a cereal junkie for breakfast and most are fortified with this important vitamin. So's a nice big glass of oj.

Overall, the March of Dimes is a super great resource for pregnant mamis. They have an English site here, and a Spanish site here.

Pregnant Latinas at Risk?

¡Ay, la comida! As a Latina, much of my life has centered around food. My great-grandmother, mi 'buelita, actually owned her own restaurant in Dallas. Granted, that was before I was born, but probably 80% or more of my childhood meals were made by her. I was spoiled with strong, rich dishes that cannot be replicated now that she has passed away. I have spent many of my adult years prowling through suspect hole-in-the-walls and fine, uppity restaurants trying to find the same culinary masterpieces she used to create. I have not been successful.

Now that I am so far from my hometown, I have distinct moments of withdrawl in which I feel like I'd give my youngest child for a plate of gallina y fiambre (just kidding, y'all.) Sadly, I never developed the patience and love for cooking that my 'buelita had. Even if I had, I know that I could never have figured out her secret recipes. (I am told that my grandmother actually has all of them written down and stored in a secret hiding spot that she refuses to share with the rest of us.)

I know that I am not the only Latina who indulges in family recipes or seeks out traditional dishes. And, unfortunately, this propensity can have a negative impact for pregnant Latinas.

I enjoy reading the newsletter that the North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation publishes. It's called Maternidad Latina: Promoting Child and Maternal Health. Their Jan/Feb issue focused on the topic of listeriosis, a serious infection caused by eating foods contaminated with the listeria bacteria. This bacteria can be found in foods like deli meats, soft cheeses and anything made with unprocessed milk. Pregnant women and their unborn children are one of the main groups of people affected.

Unfortunately, pregnant Latinas (especially first generationers) are at very high risk for contracting the bacteria, because soft cheeses - like the quesos frescos pictured above - are a popular and traditional ingredient for many of our Latin American dishes. Some Latinas even think that these homemade quesos and raw milks are healthier. And many Latinas haven't ever heard of listeriosis - Hey! To be honest, I hadn't either until I was pregnant with my kids. And even then, my OB/Gyn only told me to stay away from deli meats.

Sadly, this lack of knowledge can have some really bad consequences. The bacteria can cause some very serious complications for pregnant women, including premature delivery, miscarriage, stillbirth, and severe health problems for newborns.

The best thing you can do if you are pregnant, is to avoid unpasteurized dairy products and deli meats. And, of course, cooking food thoroughly and maintaining a clean area for food preparation are important as well.

So if you have a sister, cousin, daughter or amiga that is expecting un bebé, help spread the message and tell her about this post.

If you'd like read more Maternidad Latina issues, click here.

For more information on listeriosis and pregnancy, click here.

Para información en Español, click aqui.

Folic Acid for Latinas

Well, as promised, I am dedicating the next few posts to pregnancy and breastfeeding. To start off, I'm providing you a link to one of the most important issues for pregnant Latinas, and that is the importance of getting enough folic acid. As a group, Latinas have the highest rates of neural tube defects during pregnancy. Many Latinas don't have access to proper health care during their pregnancies, and as a result most likely don't even know what Folic Acid is. But this vital nutrient is a type of B vitamin that helps with tissue growth and cell function. It helps prevent certain birth defects including spina bifida, a condition where the backbone and spinal canal do not close before birth. As a result, newborns may suffer partial or complete paralysis in their legs and the exposed spinal cord is very susceptible to infection.

Good sources of folic acid include citrus fruits/juices, beans/legumes, and dark green leafy veggies, to name a few.

Since folic acid is a water-soluble vitamin that is excreted in the urine, it is hard to overdose on folic acid, so I strongly suggest that all of us Latinas take a multi-vitamin every day. Even if you buy some children's vitamins and pop one in your mouth with breakfast, that would be sufficient. And the other advantages of taking prenatal vitamins include longer, stronger nails, beautiful skin and healthy shiny, hair. You can't beat that!

So get out there, Ladies, and eat some folic acid!

For more information on folic acid, visit the March of Dimes web site here.

For more information on Latinas and pregnancy, check out the National Latina Health Network here.

Waiting for Bebé: A Pregnancy Guide for Latinas

Traditionally, we Latinas have had higher fertility rates than non-Latinas in the United States. Big surprise. Unfortunately, we are also more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than white women. And Latinas are at higher risk to encounter health problems during pregnancy, including gestational diabetes and gall bladder disease. We even have the highest rates of neural tube defects during pregnancy, due to lack of proper consumption of folic acid.

I consider myself to be a somewhat on the ball woman, and throughout both of my pregnancies I was the type of mom who went out and bought books/magazines researching how to have the healthiest pregnancy (well, okay, not so much with the second one), but a few months ago I was amazed to discover how much I didn't know, but should have known when I stumbled upon this fantastic book. It is one that I wish I had read when I was pregnant and strongly feel it is one that every pregnant Latina - or even those thinking about starting a family - should have.

Waiting for Bebé: A Pregnancy Guide for Latinas is one of my number one recommendations for Latinas. Lourdes Alcañiz is the author and has a fantastico web site describing the book. The web site also has a Spanish equivalent for those not comfortable with the English language.

Check it out here.