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Alba Garcia of Brookside Community Health Center reviews a sample text message.
Whether it’s information about purchasing carseats or a reminder to count their unborn baby’s kicks, text messages have increased meaning for a group of pregnant women at Brookside Community Health Center in Jamaica Plain. In an innovative program designed to offer support and encourage the recommended level of prenatal care, the women will receive text messages throughout their pregnancies and also during the weeks following the birth of their children.
“This is a unique and cutting-edge way to keep our patients connected to care, and we are delighted to be able to share in this opportunity,” said Paula McNichols, executive director of Brookside Community Health Center. “Our team of clinicians at the health center is dedicated to their patients, and this text messaging pilot is another tool that can help them continue to deliver high quality care.”
The year-long pilot program, which is run by Partners Community Health—an area within Partners HealthCare—and Partners’ Center for Connected Health, is open to all pregnant patients at the health center who are followed by a BWH midwife.
Patients participating in the program begin receiving text messages 12 weeks into their pregnancies and continuing for two months after giving birth. The text messages, offered in both English and Spanish, provide the women with information and reminders about a number of topics, including how to get in touch with their health care teams, taking prenatal vitamins, drinking enough water and counting their baby’s movements.
“Patients love the idea, and almost everyone we speak with signs up for the service,” said Daisy Ocasio, a medical assistant. “It’s been very exciting and a great support for the patients and our OB Team.”
The text messaging program was piloted last year at the Lynn Community Health Center with 25 participants. The messages were found to encourage more women to receive the recommended level of prenatal care, and participants also reported that the messages helped them feel more closely connected to their care team. A majority of the participants reported that the text messages helped them to learn more ways to take care of themselves and their babies.
“The text messaging experience was very effective with the first group of pregnant women, so we are excited to have the opportunity to expand that experience to include more patients,” Matt Fishman, vice president of Community Health for Partners HealthCare, said. “Through partnerships with the Center for Connected Health and our partners in the community at the health centers, we are finding more ways to make deeper commitments to the people and neighborhoods we serve, and to help them to improve their overall health and well being.”