Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP)

A community health program offered to first-time moms facing major socioeconomic barriers

What is the Nurse-Family Partnership Program?

The Nurse-Family Partnership Program (NFP) is an evidence-based community health program offered to first-time moms facing significant socioeconomic barriers who struggle to access the resources and support needed to achieve the best health and wellness outcomes. The program pairs a first-time mom with a specially educated nurse, who will make regular visits with the mom starting in the early stages of pregnancy and lasting until the child’s second birthday.

NFP nurses help guide families through physical, social, and emotional challenges and navigate systemic barriers in healthcare that they encounter as they prepare to give birth. This program is backed by 45 years of research reflecting significant improvements in the health and lives of first-time moms and their children who have been affected by social and economic inequality. It partners with families and communities to prevent injury and illness and promote health and protection through the knowledge they share about the best skills and practices to adopt for healthy living that leads to positive outcomes in child and family development.

Goals of NFP

Improve pregnancy outcomes by partnering with moms to engage in good preventive health practices, including thorough prenatal care from their healthcare providers, improving their diets, and reducing any use of habit-forming substances
Improve child health and development by assisting families to provide responsible and competent care.
Supporting parents in developing a vision for their own future, planning additional pregnancies, continuing their education, and finding work will improve the economic self-sufficiency of the family.

Are you Eligible?

This program is geared to serve first-time moms facing adversity and disparities. Enrollment is voluntary and done by the individuals themselves. The program encourages women to enroll as soon as possible prenatally and no later than the end of the 28th week of pregnancy.

The Relationship Between Nurse and Mother

A relationship you can count on – the foundation of the relationship between the nurse and mother is a strength-based approach focused on therapeutic relationship development and a client-centered approach. Nurses and mothers are committed to a two-and-a-half-year plan that includes weekly visits—this schedule is adjusted to meet the mother’s needs. When provided with quality, personalized health care, pregnant women can gain valuable knowledge, tools, and resources, which lead to positive health outcomes.

NFP nurses monitor the health of both moms and babies to detect any early warning signs of health problems that may develop during pregnancy, post-partum, infancy, and early childhood for early intervention. If women or children are experiencing signs of possible health complications, NFP nurses coordinate care with an appropriate healthcare provider and support them through any necessary follow-up care. The ultimate goal of this program is to improve the health and wellness of first-time mothers and their children. Prenatal support is the starting point.

With this level of intensive support, maternal outcomes have been improved relating to:

18% fewer preterm births
31% reduction in very closely spaced (<6 months) subsequent pregnancies
35% fewer cases of pregnancy-induced hypertension
79% reduction in preterm delivery among women who smoke cigarettes

Child Health Outcomes

By involving registered nurses, birth outcomes improve, and adverse infant and early childhood outcomes decrease.

67% less behavioral and intellectual problems in children at age 6
56% fewer emergency room visits for accidents and poisonings through age 21
48% reduction in child abuse and neglect
39% fewer health care encounters for injuries or ingestions in the first 2 years of life among children born to mothers with low psychological resources