rewrite this title New Orleans is bringing house calls back to support new moms

To support new moms, the city of New Orleans is trying a medical practice from the past: the house call.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

For a long time, Louisiana has struggled with the health of new mothers and babies. Now New Orleans is tackling that problem with a return to an old-fashioned medical practice – the house call. Rosemary Westwood at member station WWNO explains.

ROSEMARY WESTWOOD, BYLINE: Lisa Bonfield is cradling her new baby girl on the couch. She’s named Adele (ph), and she has the hiccups.

LISA BONFIELD: I think it’s the – she hates the hiccups.

WESTWOOD: Oh, who would like them (laughter)?

BONFIELD: She used to get them all the time in my stomach, and it’s just funny that she gets them now. It’s just – I know she’s mine.

WESTWOOD: Lisa is 43 and a single mom. Adele was born in late November. Soon after, the nurse dropped by. First, they went over Lisa’s health.

BONFIELD: Then she did a visit on the baby. She checked her heartbeat, her lungs.

WESTWOOD: Family Connects New Orleans provides up to three home visits for new families in the city, and they’re free. No need to feed and change the baby and pack everything up for the bus or the car.

BONFIELD: When you’re still learning how the heck a car seat works.

WESTWOOD: Instead, Bonfield could relax in her own living room. When the nurse arrived, she had extra diapers and cream and tips about breastfeeding and what to do when the baby just won’t stop crying. Lizzie Frederick also got a home visit, and she was surprised how much she needed it. She had taken all the childbirth classes and even had a doula, but after James (ph) arrived in May…

LIZZIE FREDERICK: I was not prepared for postpartum. I don’t think that there are enough classes out there to prepare you for all the different scenarios.

WESTWOOD: Breastfeeding was a struggle, and James wasn’t a great sleeper.

FREDERICK: He was sleeping roughly for 90 minutes at a time and then waking up.

WESTWOOD: When the nurse arrived for the home visit, Frederick was busy feeding James. But the nurse said, no problem. She could wait.

FREDERICK: You are a new mom. Like, do what you need to do. I’m here to support you and take care of you.

WESTWOOD: Afterwards, the nurse weighed James. To Frederick’s relief, he was gaining weight. Then they talked about her. Frederick was exhausted, anxious and hearing phantom cries. The nurse walked her through a mental health questionnaire. Then she recommended a counselor and group sessions for perinatal women.

FREDERICK: I think that I would have felt a lot more alone if I hadn’t had this visit.

WESTWOOD: Frederick was later diagnosed with postpartum depression.

Dr. Jennifer Avegno is the director of the New Orleans Health Department. She launched Family Connects two years ago.

JENNIFER AVEGNO: There is no more critical time and vulnerable time than sort of right at birth and in the few weeks to months following birth.

WESTWOOD: These kinds of postpartum home visits are happening in other places. Research on North Carolina’s program showed it cut ER visits for newborns in half. In New Orleans, the nurses are helping spot more cases of postpartum depression earlier so that new moms can get treatment. Frederick says that was crucial.

FREDERICK: The resources that Family Connect provided really allowed me to find a community of people where I could talk about my struggles and hear tips and not feel judged and just come as I am.

WESTWOOD: The nurses are up against some grim statistics. The state has among the highest rates of infant and maternal death. A recent report called Louisiana the least healthy state for women and children. Dr. Avegno says that’s unacceptable.

AVEGNO: We got to do some real things real differently unless you like being No. 50 all the time.

WESTWOOD: This year, state legislators passed a new law that will require private insurance to cover these home visits throughout Louisiana. Republican Representative Mike Bayham authored the new law. Given that Louisiana now has one of the country’s strictest abortion bans, Bayham says these efforts are another way Louisiana can protect life.

MIKE BAYHAM: One of the slings used against advocates against abortion is that we’re pro-birth and not truly pro-life. And this bill is proof that we are – we care about the overall well-being of our mothers and our newborns.

WESTWOOD: Bayham says the home visits will reduce trips to the hospital, and that will bring down health care costs. But Dr. Avegno wants more. Since 60% of births here are covered by Medicaid, she’s pushing state officials to add the home visits to Medicaid, too.

For NPR News, I’m Rosemary Westwood in New Orleans.

PFEIFFER: This story comes from NPR’s partnership with WWNO and KFF Health News.

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