Merced County’s Nurse-Family Partnership program to graduate its first group of mothers

Ten first-time mothers will be recognized next week for their completion of a two-year home visitation program that aims to better prepare them for motherhood.

The June 17 graduation is the first for the Merced County Department of Public Health’s Nurse-Family Partnership program, which provides low-income, first-time mothers with support, education and counseling on health, behavioral and self-sufficiency issues.

The national program, which serves more than 20 counties in California including Merced, pairs qualifying women with a registered nurse for home visitations throughout the mother’s pregnancy and until the child’s second birthday. The program is free and voluntary.

Kathleen Grassi, director of the county’s Department of Public Health, said the Nurse-Family Partnership is a smart investment.

“Thirty years of rigorous evidence indicates that families who have participated in NFP have consistently demonstrated improved prenatal health, fewer subsequent pregnancies, increased maternal employment, improved child school readiness, reduced involvement in crime, and less child abuse, neglect, injuries and preventable child death,” Grassi said in a news release.

There are currently 50 first-time mothers participating in the program.

“The program really helped me learn a lot about being a mom, really helped me get through it,” Monica Monroy, an NFP graduate from Los Banos, said in the release.

The first local NFP group started in late 2012. According to the county’s Department of Public Health, most of the families that benefit from the program are from the cities of Merced and Los Banos, but there are also families in the Livingston, Atwater and Winton areas who use NFP services.

This story was originally published June 11, 2015 at 4:32 PM with the headline "Merced County’s Nurse-Family Partnership program to graduate its first group of mothers."