Moms, kids mark state’s first graduation
Published 9:48 pm Monday, January 12, 2015
Nurse-Family Partnership Nurse Home Visitor Ann Ridder, left, presents Lakesha Jones and her daughter, Alyssa, with a gift and a book at their graduation for completing the two-and-a-half-year program. Jones, Alyssa and 12 other pairs of mothers and children made up the first-ever graduating class in Virginia for the program.
A group of Suffolk and Western Tidewater moms and toddlers celebrated on Monday the completion of a program that helped them learn to be more confident in motherhood.
It was the first graduating class of the Nurse-Family Partnership in Virginia. The program, which operates in many different health districts throughout the nation, started locally in 2012 and remains the only one in Virginia. It is funded with federal dollars and through the Obici Healthcare Foundation.
Nurse-Family Partnership Nurse Home Visitor Kelly Dodson gets a big hug from Aria, one of Monday’s graduates.
For one mom in the program, Margaret Brouckaert, it may have been life-saving.
Her nurse home visitor was keeping a watchful eye on her blood pressure, Brouckaert said.
“She was letting me know it wasn’t just not a big deal,” she said.
Brouckaert ended up with pre-eclampsia, a dangerous medical condition for both mother and baby. Her daughter, Aria, ended up being born eight weeks early.
But Aria is now fine and has hit all her developmental goals, which Brouckaert knows thanks to the Nurse-Family Partnership.
“They gave us information as far as developmental things they should be reaching for,” she said. “Just little things that might seem like, ‘Everybody knows that.’”
Other moms agreed the program was helpful.
“It was a success for me,” said Lakesha Jones, who graduated from the program with her daughter, Alyssa. “It really helps for first-time moms. It really taught me a lot.”
Jones said one of the best things she learned was CPR for infants and toddlers. Her nurse home visitor brought a doll and a DVD to her home to teach her, so she didn’t have to take time to go to a class.
Making sure Alyssa was meeting all of her developmental goals was also important for her, Jones said. Her nurse home visitor, Ann Ridder, also helped her keep track of where Alyssa was in development.
Christy Edwards also said the program was a big help for her and her son, Liam.
“I felt a lot more prepared,” Edwards said. She said her nurse home visitor told her during pregnancy when Liam could start hearing voices coming from outside the womb, and Edwards started reading to her son before he was even born.
The program also suggested ways she could involve her son’s father, she said.
The program is available to first-time mothers who qualify for Medicaid. Each mother agrees to stick with the program for about two and a half years, beginning in pregnancy and lasting until their child’s second birthday.
During their weekly home visits, the registered nurses not only monitor the physical health of mother and baby but also encourage other facets of healthy families — finishing school, moving toward a career goal, finding healthy relationships, waiting longer to get pregnant again, breast-feeding longer, reading to their baby, and more.
In all, 13 moms graduated from the program this time around. About 60 moms still are in various stages of the program. Graduations will be held about once a quarter.
Kimberly Boone, the program supervisor, said the program aims to break cycles including low-income and domestic violence.
“They’re joining to better themselves,” she said, noting the program is free and voluntary. “It’s very commendable.”
