BRENTWOOD, TN – ¿Hablas español? ¡Sí! In time for January’s Birth Defects Awareness Month, MotherToBaby is proud to announce the launch of its fully bilingual (English/Spanish) website. It’s the first of its kind for housing an extensive bilingual library of fact sheets on everything from alcohol to zolpidem during pregnancy and breastfeeding as well as connecting bilingual experts with parents and healthcare providers.

Only select portion of MotherToBaby’s resources were previously available in Spanish. The now fully bilingual website is designed to fill the gap in the disparities of health education information for pregnant and breastfeeding individuals who are Spanish-speakers. MotherToBaby wants to improve birth outcomes in the Latinx community by giving improved access to language-appropriate resources to families and health professionals.

“It’s our experience that all parents and parents-to-be want the best information possible in order to have a healthy baby,” said Lorrie Harris-Sagaribay, MPH, a bilingual teratogen information specialist and the MotherToBaby President-Elect. “No matter what the language they speak is, we want everyone to have access to the best, expert health information possible. Making our free resources available in the second most-used language in the U.S. will help us reach many who are currently underserved.”

MotherToBaby, a no-cost service of the international non-profit Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS), has been available to the public for more than 30 years. During that time, it has become the leader in birth defects research as well as answering questions the public has about exposures, like medications, vaccines, beauty products, herbal supplements, workplace exposures and much more, during pregnancy and breastfeeding. MotherToBaby is a suggested resource by many federal agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The fully bilingual website comes on the heels of other Spanish resources previously available including more than 300 fact sheets, a phone information service (866-626-6847), texting line (855-999-3525), and live chat and email (available on MotherToBaby.org). Just some of the website updates include one-stop resource hubs organized by exposure topic and health field, a FREE online materials ordering system for patient education and materials, and fully translated information about the research arm of the organization, MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies. Much of the information that the scientific community knows about medication and vaccine use during pregnancy comes from observational studies. With accessible information about study participation in Spanish, MotherToBaby is aiming to increase participant diversity and better reflect the community that may need to take these drugs to treat or prevent illness.

“The risk to the developing baby from certain exposures during a pregnancy can vary greatly depending on timing of the exposure and much more,” said Harris-Sagaribay. “To be able to provide information tailored to a pregnant person’s personal circumstance allows for better informed decision-making. I’m proud to be part of a service that empowers parents like that not only in English but also in Spanish.”

The Spanish-language website is just one of MotherToBaby’s latest effort in making health education information more accessible to people outside of native English speakers. MotherToBaby is exploring the expansion of its bilingual resources to make them available in more languages. For example, it recently made its COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines fact sheet available in Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, Tagalog and Vietnamese.

Visit the new Spanish-language website at MotherToBaby.org/es. The MotherToBaby website is not intended to be a substitute for professional judgment. Users should consult personal healthcare providers for pregnancy and breastfeeding advice related to their particular situation.

More about OTIS and MotherToBaby

The Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) is a professional scientific society made up of individuals engaged in assessing and evaluating risks to pregnancy and breastfeeding from environmental exposures. Members include, but are not limited to, specialists in the fields of obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, genetics, dysmorphology, perinatal epidemiology, teratology, behavioral teratology, pharmacy, genetic counseling, nursing, midwifery, maternal and child health, public health, and includes experts that provide MotherToBaby services and researchers that conduct MotherToBaby Pregnancy Studies.

MotherToBaby is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $6,000,000 with zero percentage financed with non-governmental sources. The contents of this release are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. To learn more about MotherToBaby and OTIS, please visit www.MotherToBaby.org.  

Media Contact: Nicole Chavez, 619-368-3259, nchavez@mothertobaby.org

The post MotherToBaby Launches Spanish-Language Digital Health Website to Reach Underserved Latinx Communities in the U.S. & Canada appeared first on MotherToBaby.