PRESS RELEASE

Nurse Family Partnership Completes Three Years in St. Louis County

St. Louis County Public Health and Human Services has completed a three year cycle of the nationally acclaimed home visiting program, the Nurse Family Partnership, which serves low-income, high-risk, first-time mothers. The Nurse Family Partnership is research based and has a preventive approach to health, social, and mental health issues. Besides being first-time, low-income mothers, other risk factors may include being single, teenager, history of substance abuse, domestic violence, poor social support, developmentally challenged and mental health issues. As of August 1, 2004, forty-three mothers and their infants have completed this program which provides intensive home visits by public health nurses to mothers during pregnancy and until their first infant turns two years old.

Scientifically controlled studies of this program have found consistent benefits for mothers and their children in the areas of prenatal health, child injury prevention, decreased rates of subsequent pregnancies, and use of welfare dollars. The program has documented savings of four dollars saved for every dollar spent. St. Louis County is one of 250 counties in 21 states to implement the Nurse Family Partnership program. Five trained public health nurses in St. Louis County can serve 100 families at a time using the Nurse Family Partnership model for home visiting.

Program Outcomes for St. Louis County, February 2001 – February 2004

• 11% reduction in cigarette smoking during pregnancy

• A reduction of 2.5 in the number of cigarettes smoked in the last 48 hours (for those mothers who continued to smoke during their pregnancies)

• The infant prematurity rate was 6.2% and the low birth rate was 5.3%. (National NFP rates for prematurity were 9.7% and 8.8% for low birth weight.)

• 69% of the mothers initiated breastfeeding their infants and 17% were still breastfeeding when the infants reached their first birthday.

• The percentage of mothers with no high school diploma or GED dropped from 31% at intake to 9% at completion of the program.

• For the mothers who entered the program with a high school diploma or GED, the pursuit of additional education increased from 18% at intake to 43% at program completion.

• The average number of months worked by the mothers increased from 7.4% at birth to 6 months, to 9.4% at 13-24 months.

• The immunization rates for children were 94% at completion of the program.

• 18% of the mothers reported subsequent pregnancies within 24 months of the birth of their first child (32% is the national NFP average)

For further information about the Nurse Family Partnership program in St. Louis County, contact Veronica Sterling, PHN, at St. Louis County Public Health and Human Services at (218) 725-5277.

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