New York is stepping up to the plate to help improve the health of new mothers and their babies. A new program offered by the city's Nurse Family Partnership program provides home visits that give help where it is needed, by new mothers who are low-income and struggling to care for their newborns.
Nurse Family Partnership visits moms in their homes
The Visiting Nurse Service program is offered through The Health Department and is available in all New York's boroughs. A home visiting nurse visits new moms in their own homes to offer any help they can, such as feeding, bathing and other infant care needed by moms. The care begins during pregnancy, through delivery, and is provided until the child is two years old.
How the program is helping
Since the program began in 2003, not only has it help 12,000 families but the city's infant mortality rate also decreased to its lowest level in history. It's a blessing to low-income moms who often do not have access to health care as others do. These new mothers look at their home visiting nurse not just as a nurse but as a friend. As one program participant explained it, "That's my best friend, that's my sister."
Although the program currently reaches only about 6 percent of eligible moms in the city, officials are optimistic that more money will be coming from both the state and federal government to extend the reach to even more low-income moms.
To read more, visit www.vnsny.org
