COUNTY PROGRAM OFFERS AT-HOME CARE TO NEWBORNS, PARENTS

When a nurse from Frederick Health visited new mother Jamie Hodge and her weeks-old daughter Mallory, the nurse asked Hodge questions she hadn't heard much since giving birth.

"How are you doing? What do you need?" the nurse, Gillian Carey, asked.

Hodge said those questions were common during her pregnancy, but waned as attention shifted to her newborn.

"It kind of makes you feel human again," Hodge said. "It's that moment where I matter. ... And I think new moms kind of forget that."

The program that dispatched Carey to Hodge's home in Frederick — Family Connects Frederick County — was launched in January. It offers a home visit by a registered nurse to any family with a baby delivered at Frederick Health Hospital.

In 2022, Frederick County allocated $8 million of federal funding it received through the American Recovery Plan Act to create the program. Frederick Health, the county's largest health care provider, was in charge of its implementation.

The foundations of the program were created by a task force within the local Health Care Coalition and leadership from Pilar Olivo, a liaison for the county's Office of Children and Families.

Olivo and the task force have worked for years to raise awareness and reduce the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences in Frederick County. The new Family Connects program has aided in that initiative.

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https://familyconnects.org/county-program-offers-at-home-care-to-newborns-parents/