we leave you tonight with the first in a new series NJ Spotlight news is launching called the change project it takes a deeper look at the state's social and economic challenges and the inequalities residents are facing from birth through school to finding an affordable place to live the change project focuses on possible remedies including the steps that have already led to positive change we begin with a topic that's been front and center lately maternal Health outcomes I recently spoke with Healthcare writer Lilo stain about her piece examining a home Nurse Program for new moms so Lilo uh through your reporting New Jersey has really embraced this new program to help maternal Health outcomes what is it uh and what did you find in looking into it right so basically this the model is called family connects it's in place in 19 States and communities in across the country um it it has been Pro it involves a nursing home home visit and it's Universal so that means that every new mom who is who gives birth in counties that are now in play is eligible for a visit um doesn't matter if you have insurance doesn't matter your immigration status it doesn't matter how much you earn is that what sets it apart very Qui from other programs yes and the fact that it's a nurse making the visit is another unique feature but together that um the nurse will go to your home um assess the mom and the baby's health and connect identify things that they may be missing it may be lactation Services it may be they need a crib it may be you know they don't have a bus pass but it may also be you know a referral for um postpartum depression treatment so they will then connect the family with the services they need and there's another person on the back end who works to make sure that the gaps in the services are filled and so that you're not you don't have people who are calling in line where nobody's answering and things like that so that it's it's together it's really meant to sort of wrap around these families and lift them up why is that important because so babies when they're born they have checkups right away one week and and every week after moms though they don't typically check in with their OB until about six weeks and a lot happens in those first six weeks exactly so it turns out that um more than half of the maternal deaths um are after a woman gives birth and a lot of them come in those first six weeks I think about a quarter of them so what we've what you know these experts are saying is that if we can get into the home then we can talk to Mom and say you know that weird headache you're having that's actually a blood pressure problem we should go to the hospital or you should see a doctor it's not urgent but get there um you know and those are the kinds of things where you know mom's not being a mom myself I I feel like a fraud saying this but you know I hear they're very busy when they get home from the hospital with this new baby and stuff and it's like overwhelming right so um so I think it's easy for people to say you know my priority is my child right now and you you know whatever it is that I'm about there's an itch there's an infection going to get that checked out it will go what are the results show us uh from this program so the the results largely come from the first program which was implemented in the 2000s in Durham and in the surrounding communities in North Carolina and one thing they found is that it cut emergency room visits for mom and baby in half in the first year not just in the first few weeks but that lasted over the first year um it also uh significantly decreased reports of postpartum depression for Mom which is a huge issue um and it also cut in half complaints of child abuse which was a big issue in the community so um it's it's Pro and there there are other metrics as well but it has proven to sort of make this difference it has not been assessed for maternal mortality impacts but it's pretty clear from people you talk to that they're there're sort of these anecdotes where nurses are saving lives so um the data will is still to come on that and certainly a ripple effect if they have that connection with a medical provider so uh it's fairly new in being rolled out how's it going are there challenges and I'm thinking money which is always an issue in getting these programs to last right so this is what's particularly unique about this is I mean we talk all the time to to new programs that are coming online in in communities that are interesting and have promise this is going to be Statewide and it is backed by law which makes it only the second in the country be this way um New Jersey started with five counties uh Cumberland Gloucester middlex Mercer and Essex it will by 2027 it will be in place in all 21 counties or start to be in place in all 21 counties um yeah challenges funding they've got $35 million up front for the first few years um or for the first installment um but you know challenging is hiring nurses nurses are in huge demand they're going to need 250 by the time the program is Statewide that's many times over what they have so far um so there're there are and particularly black and bilingual nurses which is so critical if if the program is going to connect with families you know people need to feel like they can trust the person coming into your home it's extremely private to have a nurse coming into your home especially you think you you're there with a baby I mean at your most vulnerable yeah so um so they've got some challenges but the nurses one of the stories I wrote is about the nurses and they are just the best adver M for the program they are so enthusiastic about this work and everybody can check out uh your full report plus that sidebar on those nurses the great work that they do on our website njs Spotlight news.org Lilo stainton thank you so much thank you Bri