What it is
Home visiting is a free, voluntary program where a nurse or trained parent educator comes to your home through pregnancy and the first years. It is not an inspection. It is weight checks, feeding help, a mood screen, and a guide to local resources. California funds several models through the Department of Public Health and county health departments. Nurse-Family Partnership pairs first-time mothers with lower incomes with a nurse from before 28 weeks until the child turns two. Welcome Baby, in Los Angeles County, is open to any mother at a partner hospital.
What's typical
Visits run 60 to 90 minutes. Enrollment for the nurse models usually has to happen in pregnancy. Most counties also have public health nurses who do a few postpartum home visits on referral, often for a weight check or a mother who needs more support.
What's known
Nurse-Family Partnership has decades of trial evidence linking it to healthier pregnancies and fewer injuries. Programs are not child welfare and do not report to immigration.
What helps
- Ask at a prenatal visit or the WIC office whether you qualify for a nurse program, before 28 weeks.
- Call 211 and ask for home visiting in your county; the operator has the list.
When to call someone
- Nowno emergency lives here. In a crisis, 988 and the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-852-6262 answer at any hour.
- Todayyou are home, overwhelmed, and no one is coming; ask your pediatrician's office for a public health nurse referral.
- At your next visitask what home visiting exists in your county.
Who helps
Tools: Birthworker Directory · My Birth Team · Postpartum Prep Checklist
Related
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- Asking for help, and letting it inSupport, Home, and Village
- Postpartum doulas, night nannies, and hired helpSupport, Home, and Village
- Postpartum depressionPostpartum: Mind
- WIC and food assistanceCalifornia: Leave, Money, and Paperwork
What mothers here say
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Sources
- California Department of Public Health — California Home Visiting Program overview
- Nurse-Family Partnership — How it works: eligibility and enrollment
- First 5 LA — Welcome Baby program
- California Department of Social Services — CalWORKs Home Visiting Program
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