Background:
The March of Dimes is committed to engaging the Latino community through e-services that are culturally and linguistically relevant. Having content in Spanish shows an important commitment to the community. According to the 2006 AOL Latino Cyber Study, Hispanics are younger and more likely to participate in interactive sites with over 52% reading or posting to blogs. Spanish-speakers are the fastest-growing segment of Internet users. The March of Dimes embraces the web 2.0 environment.

Objectives:
As an extension of the March of Dimes e-services to the Latino community, a new Spanish language blog was launched on nacersano.org. Consumers want and expect the one-on-one connection. The blog allows for a more informal forum for exchange of information and concerns about healthy pregnancies. It also provides a warmer and personal aspect to the website. For many women of child-bearing age this is the preferred avenue for gaining valuable information and reassurance.

Methods:
Based on consumer comments and requests content is posted to the blog under 3 main categories. Preconception is the most popular and has the most posts, views and comments. Blog posts are uploaded 3-4 times a week and comments are moderated everyday. The immediacy of new or seasonal information is critical.

Results:
The blog launched with an email push to 60,000 newsletter subscribers. The initial post was on “How to Conceive”. There were 5,000 hits over night and 43 comments. The blog continues to be a popular access point for young women. Exposure of the blog to a wider community through carnivals, aggregators and popularity sites is important.

Conclusion and implications for practice:
There are many health blogs and wikis on the web that are giving erroneous and potentially dangerous information. It is important for agencies and non-profits, as trusted sources of health information, to publish current, accurate articles. In order to be relevant in the new web environment new approaches need to be embraced.