Nurses for Newborns^®

Nurses for Newborns (NFN), a nonprofit, community-based organization, developed and administers a maternal and child health home visiting program of the same name. NFN provides services to pregnant women and families with children ages 2 or younger who reside in select counties in eastern Missouri and central Tennessee. The program targets families with medically fragile infants, teenage mothers, parents with mental health concerns or intellectual or physical disabilities, and families with limited resources. The program aims to decrease poor birth outcomes, prevent child abuse and neglect, reduce infant injuries and preventable hospitalizations and emergency department visits, increase immunization rates, and connect families with community resources. NFN consists of home visits with a nurse who conducts maternal and child health and developmental assessments, and screens for risk factors such as maternal depression, stress, and domestic violence. NFN offers services based on an overall assessment of the needs of the child and family, rather than on a set number of visits. Ideally, visits are initiated prenatally and are offered more frequently following the child’s birth. Home visits typically last 60 to 75 minutes.