New Jersey is on track to become the first state to offer free postpartum home health visits to every family with a newborn, regardless of income level, insurance type or citizenship status. Family Connects NJ became active in all South Jersey counties in January, with services planned to reach all 21 of the state’s counties by January 2027. More than 10,000 families have completed home health visits since the program launched in five counties in 2024, according to state officials.
The postpartum period is a critical window to catch medical complications in babies and mothers, mental health concerns and other issues. Kara McPeak, a new mother in Linwood, New Jersey, recalled how a nurse visit at four weeks postpartum helped her overcome anxiety about her newborn son’s feeding and weight gain. “We were able to weigh him and make sure he was continuing to gain weight, and that gave me a lot of peace of mind,” McPeak said. New Jersey has had some of the worst maternal mortality and morbidity rates compared to neighboring states, with reports showing significant racial disparities. Between 2019 and 2023, there were 258 fatal cases among more than 500,000 live births, with 86.7% deemed preventable, according to the state’s maternal mortality review committee.
Family Connects NJ, modeled after a foundational program from Duke University in North Carolina, is overseen by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families and contracts with regional community organizations. Nurses visit within the first two weeks after delivery, often before women have their first postpartum follow-up with an obstetrician. During visits that can last up to two hours or more, nurses perform head-to-toe assessments, check blood pressure, examine incision sites and healing progress. In 18% of 2025 home visits, health providers identified a “serious postpartum health concern” that could not wait for a future appointment, prompting immediate doctor contact or, in rare cases, emergency care. Registered nurse Cassie Scanlon, a nursing supervisor at The Cooperative, described her portable “Mary Poppins backpack” containing blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, thermometers, pulse oximeter, portable scale and other supplies to assess both mother and baby.
Beyond medical care, nurses assess home environments for necessary resources like working smoke alarms, safe sleeping structures, food, transportation, diapers and formula, and they screen for postpartum mental health concerns. Brandie Benson, the program director, emphasized that nurses are “not here to surveil your home” and assured families that “we don’t call a hotline because someone is impoverished or they’re struggling. We address that resource in the visit.” Gov. Mikie Sherrill has proposed $49 million in funding in the next state budget to support the program’s full statewide implementation.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://whyy.org/articles/postpartum-home-visits-new-jersey/