The city of Chicago on Nov. 19 launched a nurse home-visiting program for new mothers, reports Chicago Tribune.
The Family Connects Chicago program offers patients free postpartum home visits in which registered nurses provide health assessments, screen mothers for anxiety or depression, and provide educational resources on newborn care.
The program will start at Rush University Medical Center, Norwegian American Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital and St. Bernard Hospital. The goal is to expand the program to all Chicago hospitals with birthing services within five years.
The Family Connects program first launched in North Carolina in 2008 as a collaboration between Durham, N.C.-based Duke University; Durham-based North Carolina Central University; and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The program has since expanded to at least 19 communities nationwide, including major cities like Baltimore and Minneapolis.