WIC and health center leadership in states across the US are assisting researchers at Boston University, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Virginia with the TodaysBaby research studies.

The TodaysBaby programs provide short educational videos and text messages about baby care during pregnancy up until six months after birth.  Possible topics include baby sleep, baby feeding, or baby-parent interactions.  The TodaysBaby programs are free.

TodaysBaby™ has been developed by experts in infant care, breastfeeding, and health education, in collaboration with WIC clients and WIC staff. The researchers are evaluating how the TodaysBaby programs, and the way the programs are provided, helps new parents make decisions about caring for their baby. We are currently enrolling participants into two TodaysBaby research studies, that provide the
TodaysBaby programs to participants in different ways:

• Text Message Study – participants receive the TodaysBaby program entirely by text message.

 -or-

• Facebook Study – participants receive the TodaysBaby program within a private Facebook group with other members who are pregnant or have new babies. Text messages will be used for study communication and surveys only.

Clients sign up using their smartphones. They will be directed to one study or the other based on eligibility criteria.

• The TodaysBaby Programs include:
  • Free infant care educational videos and text messages throughout pregnancy and until the baby is 6 months old.
• Participants will be asked to complete surveys at various times throughout the programs, as well as answer questions over text messages about their baby care plans and practices.
• Participants will be compensated for their time and will receive up to $50 in electronic gift cards for their participation in the study.  Participants will also be eligible to participate in a monthly lottery for a $100 gift card throughout their participation in this study

Our work is funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD), and has previously been published in JAMA (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5593130/ ).

We are currently working with health centers and WIC offices in Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia – but hope to expand across the United States!