parenting help right at your fingertips

Dayton Children’s begins a program to send patient families regular texts or emails to help promote safety and well-being for new parents and their children. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, these messages will provide important information that families need direct to their phone or inbox.

Parents who have an established relationship with Dayton Children’s and a child younger than 3 years old will get the texts or emails starting this month. In addition to COVID-19 specific items, topics will also include caring for a newborn and new mom after birth, safe sleep education, when to take a child to the emergency department and much more. All content is evidence-based, meaning that the messages are created based on the best available current research.

“This is just one more way we are living our mission - the relentless pursuit of optimal health for every child within our reach,” says John Duby, MD, vice president of community health at Dayton Children’s. “Being a new parent can be overwhelming and babies don’t come with instruction manuals. Our hope is that these texts and emails can provide a steady source of support and information for our new families.”

A key area of concern is safe sleep. Sleep-related deaths are the number one cause of death for babies from 1 month to 12 months old. This program is one of many steps that Dayton Children’s is taking to help combat this issue.

The program is supported by UbiCare, a patient education company whose products are aimed at helping improve quality and outcomes by engaging patients with their health care. Hospitals who used this system say 85 percent of their patients were able to take better care of themselves after receiving the communications.