News
Sutter Health Introduces Spanish-Language Web Site Devoted to Pregnancy
Sutter Expands Its Online Spanish Health Resource to Better Serve California's Diverse Community
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 23, 2004 - Sutter Health, a family of not-for-profit hospitals and physicians serving more than 100 communities throughout Northern California, has expanded its community health improvement program with the introduction of a comprehensive, Spanish-language health Web site designed just for pregnant women and new mothers. Part of Sutter's commitment to responding to community needs, the new site features information on healthy pregnancies, labor and delivery, and care for newborns, and is the first bi-lingual site of its kind to be provided free-of-charge to all of California's Spanish-speaking population. Sutter Health, a leader in bi-lingual online health content, first introduced the English-language version of this site in 2002.
Sutter Health's new Spanish-language content is easily accessible through two different URLs: www.bebes.sutterhealth.org (babies), or through Sutter's main URL www.sutterhealth.org.
"More than 529,000 babies are born each year in California," said Dr. Francisco Prieto, a family practice physician at Sutter Laguna Family Practice. "About one-third of all California's babies are born to mothers of Hispanic or Latino descent, many of whom have little or no access to quality health information on prenatal care, delivery and newborn care. It's vital that we give every mother, despite perceived barriers such as language or geographic location, the vital health information they need to take care of themselves and their growing families," he said.
Sutter Health's new Spanish-language pregnancy and babies Web site hosts some of the most sought-after health topics by first-time mothers, including a month-to-month guide to pregnancy and fetal growth, prenatal nutrition and exercise, signs of premature labor, delivery options, a due date guide, a breastfeeding guide, and postpartum adjustments to nutrition and exercise.
Since the launch of the Spanish-language site in August, it has received 8,700 visits from across California, but also as far away as Mexico, South America and Puerto Rico.
"Sutter Health began offering a comprehensive Web-based health information library in 2001," said Gordon Hunt, M.D., senior vice president and chief medical officer of Sutter Health. "Since that time, we've taken a leadership role in California in providing quality and medically safe information – in English and Spanish – on hundreds of common health topics such as pregnancy."
Sutter Health developed the content for the English- and Spanish-language pregnancy and baby care sites through rigorous review and compilation of health content available within the medical community, as well as information gathered throughout Sutter's own hospital and health system. This content was first published in multiple languages in three separate pregnancy, labor and delivery, and newborn care books, but was then put online to make it more accessible to the general public. Today, Sutter Health's physicians still provide the pregnancy and baby guidebooks to all pregnant women seeking care at a Sutter facility.
The new Spanish Web site requires no membership fee and access is free of charge. Health consumers and patients simply need a computer and Internet connection to access the Web site by typing in the following URL addresses:
- For Spanish
www.bebes.sutterhealth.org - For English
www.babies.sutterhealth.org
Sutter Health hospitals and physicians offer thousands of low-cost or free community health programs to California's consumers, including the pregnancy Web sites and online health information library. In 2003, the Sutter Health network invested more than $649 million in charity care and in programs that respond to community needs.
Contact
Karen Garner
Communications Manager
916-286-8297
garnerk@sutterhealth.org