FCYU-Feature Story

A Partner for Parents
Visiting nurses team up with first-time moms.

By La'Quesha Barner

Not everybody plans on having a baby, and if you're not prepared, it's important to know that there are people out there who can help you. You don't have to be by yourself.

One place you can get help is the Nurse-Family Partnership, a national program that helps low-income, first-time mothers learn how to parent. You can sign up as soon as you know you're pregnant (but no later than the 28th week of your pregnancy) and you'll be matched with a nurse who will visit you and your baby until the baby turns 2. I spoke with Julia Carter, a nurse who is now a supervisor in the New York City program, to find out more.

Q: How does the Nurse-Family Partnership work?

A: Each mom gets assigned a nurse, who is there to support the new mom. The nurse starts visiting with the mother while she's still pregnant and keeps working with her until the baby is 2 years old. Each visit lasts an hour and a half, and visits range from once a week to once a month, depending on how old the baby is.

Before the baby is born, the nurse helps the mom get prenatal care and tries to help her cut down on unhealthy habits like smoking.

Later, the nurse teaches her how to care for her baby. She helps the mother learn who her child is and how they can form a relationship.

Q: Who can join the program?

A: The Nurse-Family Partnership is open to any low-income pregnant woman who has never had a baby before. There are no age restrictions.

In October, we started a special project in New York City, which I'm supervising, to recruit girls who are in foster care, homeless or coming out of Rikers. We're targeting them because these moms are more vulnerable. They have all the questions any new mother would have, but less support.

Q: How are you recruiting teens in foster care?

A: That's the million dollar question! Teenagers in general are hard to reach, because they're often ambivalent about being pregnant-meaning they sometimes don't know if they want to keep the baby, and they tend not to tell adults that they're pregnant until the last minute.

In New York, we're trying to work with the youth development programs at ACS and at foster care agencies to reach teens in care. We try to go where teens are (whether they're pregnant or not) to let them know about the program, so that if they do become pregnant they might think of us.

Q: What happens if the mom doesn't have a stable home or is unhappy with her foster care placement-would you help her move to a better place?

A: We wouldn't do it for her, but we do try to work with the mother to help her find resources and navigate the system. A mom who's referred to us would already be connected to a social service agency like ACS, or the Department of Homeless Services, so she already has a social worker to advocate for her needs. The role of the nurse is to keep her connected to that person and those services.

Q: How much are fathers involved in the program?

A: The nurse visits the mom, but fathers are involved as much as the mother wants them to be. They too can learn parenting skills. In fact the nurse encourages fathers, family members and even friends to be involved. We'll work with whoever the mom identifies as her support.

Q: Can the mother call the nurse if there is an emergency? Would the nurse go to her house?

A: A mother can always call the nurse-they all have work cell phones-but that doesn't mean the nurse will always come to her client's house. The goal of the program really is to get the mom to be able to advocate for herself.

If a mom called in the middle of the night with a problem, the nurse would probably speak with her and help her figure out the best solution. It's empowering for the mom to be in the midst of an emergency and be able to find a solution.

Q. What happens if there are personal problems between the nurse and the mother?

A: Just like in any relationship, if there are problems we try to talk them out and come to some sort of solution. In a worst case scenario where the nurse and client just can't get along and it's not working, we may try to find a different nurse for the client, because we want her to have this program. But we try to handle personal differences without having to resort to that.

Q: What are the hardest things for new parents to learn?

A: I think the hardest thing for any new parent is realizing that this little baby is a person, with its own personality. As new parents, you have to learn to work with that personality so that you can communicate and understand what your baby needs from you. I think when things go wrong is when there's no communication.

Q: What happens to the parents after the two years of nurse care? Are they on their own then?

A: It's a relationship, so even once the program is over the nurse and the mom may stay in touch. But by the end of the program, the mom should be able to advocate for herself in a way she never would have been able to before. The nurse helps the mom to increase her self-esteem and identify her own support systems, so it's not such a big drop at the end of two years.

Q: Do any of the parents come back after their kids are adults to let you know how they're doing?

A: Nationally we follow the kids who are now adults, and our research has shown that these adults are more likely to be in college and to have jobs, and they have fewer incidents of juvenile delinquency and arrest-overall, they do better than the kids we've tracked whose mothers were not in the program.

Q: How could a pregnant teen sign up for this program?

A: In New York City, you can call 311 and someone will direct you to your closest site. Or you can ask your law guardian or social worker. Outside of New York, you can find out if a Nurse-Family Partnership program exists in your city by visiting our website, at www.nursefamilypartnership.org.