In August 2023, the City of New Orleans Health Department launched a universal home visiting program for all babies born at Ochsner Baptist and Touro Hospital and residing in Orleans parish. The program, called Family Connects New Orleans (FCNO), provides up to three free home visits by a nurse to parents with infants up to 12 weeks old. During the home visits, nurses will comprehensively address the health care and other needs expressed by families. In addition to a physical health check for both mom and baby, nurses may provide screening for postpartum depression; breastfeeding support; help with bathing, diapering, and swaddling; information about safe sleep; help with management of infant crying; family planning advice; help scheduling appointments; and connections to a wealth of resources in the community.
The Family Connects model started in North Carolina where researchers showed that mothers who used Family Connects felt less anxious and had less visits to emergency care than families who did no use the program. The program (which is free to participants) saved money too: for every $1 invested in it, there was about $3 savings in emergency care costs.
Dr. Maeve Wallace, MAC Associate Director, and Dr. Kevin Callison, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, will be leading an evaluation of the FCNO program with generous support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. By analyzing Medicaid claims data, medical records data, and testimonials from participants, they hope to demonstrate how this program can save money, improve short- and long-term health and well-being for moms and babies in New Orleans, and help all new families thrive.
To learn more about the program, visit the website: https://nola.gov/health-department/family-connects/
