CDC-Recommended Non-Profit Launches ‘MotherToBaby’ In Time For Mother’s Day
Experts Provide Free Answers About Medications & More During Pregnancy & Breastfeeding
Brentwood, TN – As Mother’s Day approaches, the non-profit Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS), a prestigious professional society comprised of international leaders in the field of birth defects research, announces MotherToBaby, the new name of its free counseling service that connects experts with moms-to-be and the general public.
MotherToBaby and OTIS, which are suggested resources by many agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are dedicated to providing evidence-based information to mothers, health care professionals, and the general public about medications and other exposures during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. All North Americans can be connected with MotherToBaby experts toll-FREE via its phone counseling service (866) 626-6847 or online at MotherToBaby.org.
“In addition to my primary health care provider, MotherToBaby experts offered me an added layer of support by giving me an individualized risk assessment,” said Pamela Salgado, a Southern California woman who called the service when she was thinking about getting pregnant. She had questions about the safety of a long-term medication she was taking and its potential risks during pregnancy. “Afterwards, I felt informed and empowered to make smart decisions about my health. Today, I have a healthy three-year-old boy.”
“In a day and age where reliable information about the risks of medications, alcohol, chemicals, beauty products and other exposures during pregnancy or while breastfeeding is hard to find, especially online, we realized how important it was to make sure women and health care providers knew that experts up-to-date on the most cutting edge research were readily available to them,” explained Kenneth Lyons Jones, MD, the current president of OTIS who was the first researcher to identify Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) in 1973. “What is passed from mother to baby is exactly what we educate the public about, which is why we strongly believe MotherToBaby and the service it represents will resonate well with the general public.”
Jones further explains the need for this sort of counseling since approximately 50% of women report taking at least one medication during pregnancy. “The average woman doesn’t find out she’s pregnant until she’s five or six weeks along,” said Jones. “That means a woman could have been consuming alcohol or taking medications during that time without knowing she’s pregnant. She then finds herself deeply concerned about what it might mean for her developing baby.”
MotherToBaby affiliates support and contribute to worldwide initiatives for teratology education and research. For more information about MotherToBaby, OTIS and its affiliates, please visit MotherToBaby.org.
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Media Contact: Nicole Chavez, 858-246-1745, nchavez@mothertobaby.org. Interviews in Spanish can also be arranged.
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