At age 15, Rachael had to tell her dad she was three months pregnant. As you can imagine, she was scared because she knew he didn’t expect this from his volleyball playing, straight-A, ninth-grade high school student and would likely be disappointed to hear this news. After hearing this news, her dad discussed options of adoption and raising her child on her own and asked her to think about what she wanted to do. She decided she wanted take on the life-long responsibility of raising her baby.

Rachael went to an appointment to see a local obstetrician where she learned about the Nurse-Family Partnership program offered by El Paso County Public Health that would change her life. Rachael’s dad signed consent forms and supported her involvement with the program so she could learn to assure a healthy pregnancy, delivery and positive maternal behaviors to encourage appropriate development and care of her child. In addition to being so young, she was at risk for many pregnancy complications such as preterm labor and birth, high blood pressure, hypoglycemia, and she had additional challenges of balancing many roles. With the help of her public health nurse, Rachael delivered a full-term, healthy baby boy, weighing in at 7 pounds. She named him Tristan.

Her public health nurse built a strong, trusting relationship visiting Rachael in her home every few weeks to provide her with information and resources focusing on improving her pregnancy, improving Tristan’s health and development, and improving the economic self-sufficiency of her family. Rachael never canceled or missed a visit with her public health nurse. The Nurse-Family Partnership program believes in following their clients’ hearts’ desire combined with sound nursing judgment to empower clients to set small goals to ultimately reach long-term goals benefiting their future.

Rachael was committed throughout the program. She faced many challenges over the years and triumphed by demonstrating her dedication to learning the parenting skills necessary to maintain and enhance her health and the well-being her son. She’s 20 years old now and continues to make progress toward many goals that her Public Health Nurse helped her establish that will lead her to receiving a bachelor of science degree in nursing. She has many accomplishments to be proud of, including graduating in the top 10 percent of her high school class, completing advanced placement classes in high school, earning college credit, completing two years of college a the University of Northern Colorado, being on track to graduate with a medical assistant certificate in December 2012, being accepted to attend the Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences of University of Colorado in Colorado Springs in the spring of 2013.

Rachael is grateful for the many skills she’s learned through partnering with a public health nurse including developing her own parenting style to promote the most learning (positive discipline) and what she can do to encourage Tristan’s development and learning (age appropriate activities including support with language development); budgeting (started with budgeting child support checks as a single a teen mom), time management (being more mindful of balancing time), eating a nutrition diet, setting short-term goals to reach long-term goals, and learning how to manage her stress, problem solve, and take care of herself.  Rachael said, “The hardest part for me was being worried about what others thought of me as a teen mom. I want to be perceived as a good mom. Through this process, I’ve realized that those who matter in my life know the truth.”

Nurse-Family Partnership is an evidenced-based program that has been subjected to the most rigorous scientific testing possible. Long-term studies show that first time mothers working with Nurse Home Visitor can transform their lives and the lives of their children. Studies consistently indicate improved prenatal care, increased maternal education and employment, improved school readiness by the child, fewer injuries and fewer criminal convictions. The evidence is clear that the Nurse-Family Partnership program delivers multi-generational outcomes that benefit communities and eliminate many costs associated with social service programs.

Nurse-Family Partnership is free to all women who are first time moms and those who are eligible for Medicaid, WIC and meet other income requirements. For more information about this program call 719-578-3199 or visit www.elpasocountyhealth.org.