First-time moms wrangle motherhood

First-time moms wrangle motherhood

Nurses partner with families, shape confident mothers
First-time mom, Qwencie Smith, 22, plays with her son Elijah on the floor in their apartment. Engaging Elijah in the things he finds interesting helps aid in childhood development; something she learned in the NFP program.
Tina Duran holds her sleeping son, Alex Abeyta while his father Andrew Abeyta scoots in for a family shot. Alex, 11 months, was a wonderful surprise for Duran and Abeyta.
After a quick nap, Alex was skeptical of leaving his mother’s arms. The parents describe Alex as a friendly, sweet and happy baby.
Allison Duran, RN for the Nurse Family Partnership program, watches Elijah play with an electronic book. Smith has been partnered with Duran since she was six months pregnant.
Rachel Segura/Cortez Journal

Elijah Smith, a curious one year old, abandons his toys to inspect the camera. His mother Qwencie describes her son as “independent.”

First-time moms wrangle motherhood

First-time mom, Qwencie Smith, 22, plays with her son Elijah on the floor in their apartment. Engaging Elijah in the things he finds interesting helps aid in childhood development; something she learned in the NFP program.
Tina Duran holds her sleeping son, Alex Abeyta while his father Andrew Abeyta scoots in for a family shot. Alex, 11 months, was a wonderful surprise for Duran and Abeyta.
After a quick nap, Alex was skeptical of leaving his mother’s arms. The parents describe Alex as a friendly, sweet and happy baby.
Allison Duran, RN for the Nurse Family Partnership program, watches Elijah play with an electronic book. Smith has been partnered with Duran since she was six months pregnant.
Rachel Segura/Cortez Journal

Elijah Smith, a curious one year old, abandons his toys to inspect the camera. His mother Qwencie describes her son as “independent.”
NFP Statistics

This data was collected from Oct. 1, 2010 to Sept. 30, 2011 for the state of Colorado and the Nurse Family Partnership Programs that serve families in 50 counties. It was found at www.nursefamilypartnershipprogram.org under state profiles.



Positive outcomes for clients:



38 percent of mothers who entered the program without a diploma or GED have since earned one.

There was a 47 percent reduction in domestic violence during pregnancy.

91 percent of babies were born full term and 90 percent were born at a healthy weight- at or above 5.5 pounds.

90 percent of mothers initiated breastfeeding and 35 percent continue to breastfeed at six months.





Client demographics: (at intake)



Median age: 19

82 percent unmarried

65 percent medicaid recipients



55 percent White

32 percent decline to self-indentify/No response

5 percent Black or African American

3 percent multi-racial

3 percent American Indian

1 percent Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

1 percent Asian

45 percent Hispanic/Latina

51 percent Non-Hispanic/Latina

4 percent declined to self-identify/No response





National Recognition:



The Washington State Institute for Public Policy, The RAND Corporation and The Brookings Institution have concluded that investments in Nurse-Family Partnership lead to significant returns to society and government, giving taxpayers a $2.88-5.70 return per dollar invested in the program.

The non-profit, non-partisan Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy finds 'strong evidence of effects on life outcomes of children and mothers' by Nurse-Family Partnership.

The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence reviewed over 650 programs with published research in peer-reviewed literature. Nurse-Family Partnership is one of only 6 percent of the programs that clearly work, or even appear promising.