Get Healthy Carson City: Phone apps help new parents

This column appears in the Nevada Appeal Wednesday health pages. It addresses topics related to the health of our community.

Carson City Health and Human Services is pleased to share two exciting smartphone apps for new parents. Text4Baby and the Pacify App both provide parents with valuable resources to help ensure babies grow up happy and healthy. When you have a new baby, there are so many different things to remember, and babies don’t come with instruction manuals. These apps can help parents keep track of important health topics, like developmental milestones, breast-feeding and appointment reminders.

There are a lot of things to remember when you’re pregnant or taking care of a new baby. Text4baby is a free app that makes it easy to get important information. Expectant moms or caretakers who text BABY (or BEBE for Spanish) to 511411 receive free text messages three times per week, timed to their due date or their baby’s birth date, through pregnancy and up until the baby’s first birthday. Text4baby sends personalized messages directly to you, with information developed by child health experts. The Text4Baby app provides additional information about pregnancy and childcare tips.

The Pacify app connects parents to 24/7 support from a network of nurses, lactation consultants and nutritionists who provide on-demand help to new parents on a wide range of pediatric issues. Breast-feeding mothers can find around-the-clock support and advice from a Board-certified Lactation Consultant. Our WIC program is promoting the Pacify app. While members of the public can subscribe to this service for a fee, Nevada WIC participants can receive a code to download a six-month subscription at no cost.

Often, new parents have questions, sometimes in the middle of the night or other times when they can’t reach a healthcare provider. This is especially true of parents in outlying and rural areas of Nevada, where the closest lactation consultant may be hundreds of miles away. These two apps can help fill the gap for parents who have questions about their children’s health. While an app can’t replace regular checkups and are not a substitute for healthcare, especially in emergencies, they can provide parents with support and encouragement when they need it most.

To learn more about the Text4Baby app, visit https://www.Text4Baby.org. To download the Pacify App for your smartphone, visit the Apple Store (for iPhones) or Google Play (for Android devices). Appointments can be made with our Carson City WIC office by calling 775-887-2190 or in our Gardnerville or Topaz Ranch Estates WIC offices by calling 775-782-4430. To learn more about other Health Department services, check out our website at www.gethealthycarsoncity.org or visit us at www.facebook.com/cchhs.