Nurse Family-Partnership is a voluntary, research-based program where highly educated nurses visit women in their homes during their first pregnancy and throughout the first 2 years of their children's lives.
Eligibility:
Women who live in Marion & Jefferson Counties, who are of low-income are eligible for this free service. Women may request services as early in the pregnancy as they like, but must be enrolled in the program before the 28th week of pregnancy.
Goals of Nurse Family-Partnership program:
- Improve pregnancy outcomes by helping women engage in preventive health practices, including obtaining thorough prenatal care from their healthcare providers, improving their diet, and reducing their use of cigarettes, alcohol & illegal substances.
- Improve child health and development by helping parents provide responsible and competent care for their children.
- Improve the economic self-sufficiency of the family by helping parents develop a vision for their own future, plan future pregnancies, continue their education and find work.
Other services offered:
Doula – Doula is a Greek word referring to an experienced woman who helps other women. The word has now come to mean a woman experienced in childbirth who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mother before, during and just after childbirth.
The Doulas at UMCH are certified by the Doulas of North America (DONA).Eligibility:
Doula services are available for first time parenting teens (ages 13-19) who reside in Marion & Jefferson counties.
What Services does a Doula provide?
- Prenatal & post-partum home visits
- Assists in establishing prenatal care
- Helps the mother to develop a specialized birth plan
- Provides information and support for labor & the birth process
- Provides physical comfort measures and emotional support
- Focuses on promoting strong parent-child relationships
Benefits of having a Doula:
Research has demonstrated many benefits of Doula involvement in the birth experience, including:- Shorter labors
- Fewer labor / delivery complications
- Increased breastfeeding
- Less maternal depression
- Mothers report less pain and more satisfaction with the labor and delivery
For more information about the programs, please contact Joyce Butts, RN at (618) 242-1070 ext. 238 or jbutts@umchome.org.