New Orleans Revives Postpartum Home Visits
New Orleans is bringing back postpartum home visits by nurses to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes in Louisiana, a state with poor maternal health metrics. The model combines digital tools with in-person assessments to identify complications early and improve care. The initiative aims to boost outcomes like maternal mental health and breastfeeding rates.
- The program, called Family Connects New Orleans, was launched in October 2023 as a partnership between the city's Health Department, Ochsner Baptist, and Touro Hospital. It offers one to three free in-home visits by a registered nurse to any family with a newborn up to 12 weeks old who resides in Orleans Parish and gave birth at one of the partner hospitals, regardless of income. - This initiative is a response to Louisiana's maternal health crisis; the state received an "F" grade in the 2024 March of Dimes Report Card for its high preterm birth rate of 13.4%. Louisiana's maternal mortality rate is 37.3 per 100,000 births, and 16.9% of birthing people do not receive adequate prenatal care. - The Family Connects model was developed at Duke University and is designed to bridge the gap in care during the "fourth trimester," a critical period where 43.3% of pregnancy-related deaths occurred in 2021. The model aligns with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' (ACOG) recommendation for contact with a maternal health provider within three weeks of delivery. - During visits, nurses conduct physical assessments of both the birthing parent and the newborn, provide lactation support, and screen for postpartum depression, substance abuse, and domestic violence. They also educate families on safe sleep, infant crying patterns, and other safety topics. - An ongoing evaluation by Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine has shown encouraging early results. Medicaid recipients who participated in Family Connects were 12.7% more likely to attend a postpartum visit within 90 days of delivery. - The program has bipartisan support, and last year the Republican-dominated state legislature passed a law requiring private insurance plans to cover these home visits. A state task force in January 2025 strongly recommended comprehensive coverage and reimbursement for universal postpartum newborn nurse home visiting services through both Medicaid and private insurance. - This program is distinct from Louisiana's longer-term Nurse-Family Partnership, which has been operating since 1999 and provides nurse home visitation for low-income, first-time mothers from early in their pregnancy until the child's second birthday. - The Family Connects model has demonstrated a positive return on investment in other locations; for every $1 invested in the program in North Carolina, there was approximately $3 in savings on emergency care costs.
