Mujer Total magazine launches in North Carolina.

Latino women are at substantially higher risk than White non-Hispanic women to have unintended pregnancies, deliver babies with birth defects due to lack of folic acid before pregnancy (such as spina bifida) and to suffer violence during pregnancy, according to Hispanic/Latino Health Facts 2006 from the N.C. State Center for Health Statistics and the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities. In response to this trend the North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation announces the launch of Mujer Total (Total Woman), a new Spanish publication that encourages women to live a healthy lifestyle for themselves and their babies should they become pregnant. In addition to warning against unhealthy habits, the publication also reinforces the positive behaviors that Latino women display in greater numbers that other racial and ethnic groups, such as breastfeeding their babies and not smoking.

Created by Latinas for Latinas, Mujer Total is a 20-page, Spanish-language magazine that provides practical tips and helpful information on topics from ranging domestic violence and family planning to reproductive health and taking a multivitamin with folic acid (68.9 % of the Hispanic respondents reported that they did not take a multivitamin before they got pregnant, according to the 2005 NC Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System Survey). Mujer Total also links readers to state and national resources such as Spanish-language health information telephone numbers and websites.

The North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to improving women’s health and reducing infant mortality and morbidity across the state, created this easy-to-read educational magazine as a tool for Latinas to learn how to take control of their health and improve their birth outcomes. “For more than a decade, the Ana Maria/Latino campaign has shown its commitment to improve the health of Latinas and Mujer Total is a great example of these efforts” said Gloria Sánchez, the Latino Communications Manager, “It is a culturally appropriate educational publication that addresses some of the most important health needs of Latinas in their own language”.

Janice Freedman, Executive Director of the North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation, adds “A woman’s health and lifestyle before she becomes pregnant can greatly affects the health of her baby. By promoting positive health behaviors such as going to the dentist, maintaining a healthy weight and exercising, we can help improve the health of women across the state as well as their babies should they become pregnant.”

Mujer Total was developed with the support of The NC Division of Public Health. This and other English and Spanish health educational materials can be ordered in bulk for free on the North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation’s website at www.NCHealthyStart.org.