Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 1, 1 January 1991 — Pregnancy hotline is open [ARTICLE]

Pregnancy hotline is open

A new, free telephone information and referral service is now available for women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy. The MothersCare Hotline is confidential and open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. On O'ahu eall 973-3020 and on the neighbor islands eall toll-free 1-800-772-3020. The hotline was developed by the Hawaii Medical Service Association with the Kapiolani Medical Center, March of Dimes and the State Department of Health. Through the MothersCare Hotline, callers pan be referred to physicians and community resources and leam about prenatal education workshops. The hotline is just one component of MothersCare for Tomorrow's Children, a statewide awareness campaign designed to increase the number of healthy pregnancies and uneomplicated births. Other components of the campaign include: • Multi-media advertising that stresses the importance of women receiving early prenatal care from a physician. • A Calendar of Care providing useful health information focusing on eaeh stage of pregnancy. • An incentive program to encourage women to

receive early and regular checkups from their physician. • A network of community resources to support healthy pregnancies. In 1988, only 71 percent of women in Hawai'i received adequate prenatal care early in their pregnancies — the fewest in 10 years. Within the past threē years, an average of 154 babies per year died before reaching their first birthdays. The MothersCare for Tommorrow's Children campaign promotes early and adequate prenatal care and health education to help improve those numbers.

MothersCare Hotline 1-800-772-3020 Oahu 973-3020

Free information/referral for women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy.