Forsyth County, North Carolina

By Yalonda Galloway
Posted Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Nurse Family Partnership Honors Mothers with a Graduation

Twenty-two mothers and toddlers were honored June 8th at the Nurse-Family Partnership of Forsyth County ® (NFP) graduation ceremony held at Forsyth Medical Center. More than 100 people attended the graduation to celebrate the first-time mothers’ completion of the two-year NFP home-visitation program.

“It’s important we take the time to honor these women for their hard work and endurance over the last two years,” said Christine Wanous, nurse supervisor for NFP of Forsyth County. “It’s their compassion and dedication to providing their babies with the best lives possible that inspires true change.”

NFP is a community-based maternal and early childhood nurse home visiting program for mothers pregnant with their first child. Mothers who enroll in the program work one-on-one with a registered nurse to achieve a healthy pregnancy and learn about positive parenting behaviors.

The event included refreshments, a jewelry-making station and inspiring testimonials from program graduates. Blankets were donated to mothers and toddlers as well.

Since 2008, across North Carolina, NFP has served more than 2,500 mothers, welcomed nearly 2,000 babies and conducted more than 50,000 home visits. As a result:

89 percent of babies were born full-term, and 89 percent were born at a healthy weight (at or above 5.5 lbs.)
72 percent of mothers enrolled in NFP had no subsequent pregnancies at program completion
44 percent of mothers who entered the program without a high school diploma/GED have since earned one, and another 26 percent are working to obtain one

Launched in Forsyth County in 2012 with funding from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, NFP helps ensure that clients are achieving the program’s three main goals of improving maternal health, promoting healthy child development and improving the economic self-sufficiency of the family. Initial results include: 166 mothers served and 133 babies born since site launch. More than 3,000 home visits completed.

“NFP is an evidence-based program backed by more than 37 years of research so we know it works,” said Joe Crocker, director, Poor and Needy Division at the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. “NFP proves time and again its success in improving pregnancy outcomes and putting moms on the path to economic success.”

Across the state, NFP programs serve families in Buncombe, Cherokee, Cleveland, Columbus, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Halifax, Haywood, Hertford, Jackson, Gaston, Graham, Guilford, Macon, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Northampton, Pitt, Polk, Robeson, Rockingham, Rutherford, Swain and Wake counties.

The program is supported statewide by a public-private partnership that includes the Duke Endowment, the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, the North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc. and Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina.

For more information on NFP in Forsyth County, please contact: