Families in Oregon can now get free check-in visits at home with a nurse post-birth

Arriving home with a new baby—even if you’ve already done it before—is one of the most overwhelming things any parent experiences. Given that the U.S. healthcare system woefully underserves many families, the occasional postpartum check-up and 15-minute pediatrician appointment just do not provide the support that families with little ones need and deserve.

One organization is hoping to change that, offering free at-home visits with a nurse post-birth to any parent with a newborn, even those who have older children. Family Connects, an organization made up of more than 600 trained nurses across the country, aims to change the game when it comes to supporting babies and caregivers. 

In communities where the program is available, new parents are connected with a nurse, who visits them up to three times in the three weeks following baby’s birth, with each visit lasting up to two hours. In these visits, parents can ask any questions they’d like, and nurses can assess any potential needs, providing additional medical and/or mental health resources for any family member and/or caregiver. NPR reports a wide-range of potential resources, from helping food insecure families connect with local groups and agencies that can help to providing hearing aids for grandparents living in the home and helping with childcare.

During each visit, nurses help with common concerns, including safe sleep practices, feeding, and more. Adequate postpartum home care is crucial, and yet so many families barely have access to any care at all. Though both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) both advocate for regular and ongoing checkups beginning before baby is even born, our maternal mortality rate of 32.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births means that our most vulnerable populations—especially Black and Indigenous patients—are being ignored or dismissed when they need to be surrounded by support.

The initiative is currently available in select communities in 19 states, including New Jersey, Texas, Colorado, and Illinois, among others. North Carolina, where the program began, and Oregon have the largest footprint, with the latter aiming to access all parents with newborns statewide in time.

“Just having Barb here has helped me feel supported emotionally and improved my mental health—right in the thick of these first few, hard months of parenting,” new mom Amber Luman told NPR of her Family Connects nurse, Barb Ibrahim.

Here’s hoping that more families nationwide will receive access to Family Connects and programs like it so that babies and caregivers can thrive—instead of merely surviving—those early days and weeks at home together.