Open doors to opportunities, home visiting helps! 

Home visiting programs connect pregnant women and families with young children to a support person who typically works with parents to build supportive home environments and encourage healthy child development. Quality home visiting programs offer vital support to parents as they deal with the unique needs of each family. As a result, the families who participate in home visiting can take many shapes and come from different walks of life. 

That is why here, at Healthy Start, our compassionate care coordinators work individually with moms to determine the right support, resources, and services needed to ensure a healthy pregnancy, healthy birth, and healthy baby.

Benefits of Home Visiting:

  • Moms and babies are healthier.

    During and after pregnancy, home visiting programs promote maternal health by helping mothers schedule regular doctor’s visits, improve diets, reduce stress levels, and quit smoking or substance use. Babies benefit as well. One study found that mothers who participated in a home visiting program were half as likely to have a baby born low birthweight, which greatly reduced these babies’ risk for health and developmental problems.

  • Children are better prepared for school.

    Home visiting programs promote positive parenting practices that help parents better prepare their children for school. Parents learn about developmental milestones and fun activities that help baby learn and grow. Research shows parents enrolled in home visiting programs are more likely to have a safe play environment at home, provide age-appropriate books and engage children in structured teaching activities. Home visiting programs have also demonstrated long-term, positive impacts on children’s academic achievement.

  • Children are safer.

    Home visiting programs are associated with reduced rates of child maltreatment and injuries. In one program, children of participating families experienced 40 percent fewer injuries between the ages of 2 to 4, and they were 35 percent less likely to visit an emergency room compared to children not enrolled. Mothers who participate in home visits also have lower stress levels and increased sensitivity during interactions with their children.

  • Families are more self-sufficient.

    Compared to their counterparts, parents enrolled in home visiting have higher monthly incomes, are more likely to be enrolled in school, and are more likely to be employed.

  • Home visiting programs save money.

    The short- and long-term benefits of home visiting programs largely outweigh the overall costs incurred from implementation. RAND found that high-fidelity home visiting programs for at-risk families have a $5.70 return for every tax dollar spent from reduced spending for health care and welfare services. Another study of a home visiting program in Durham, North Carolina reported saving $3.00 for every $1.00 spent on the program during an infant’s first 6 months due to reduced emergency care visits.

Source (https://childandfamilyresearch.utexas.edu/top-5-benefits-home-visiting-programs)