NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New York City will provide at home visits to all first-time parents under a new intiative launched Wednesday by First Lady Chirlane McCray.
For many women, pregnancy and child birth can be an incredibly difficult time, and McCray says for her, being a new mom was joyful, but also scary.
"I can't say if what I experienced would be classified as post pardum depression, but I sure wish someone had probed a little more deeply into what I was going through," McCray said while announcing that the city will invest $43 million a year aiming to reach 45,000 new parents by 2024. "I wish I had someone to offer a little guidance when I needed it."
The New Family Home Visits initiative provides at-home support from pregnancy through birth and up to the baby's first two months.
Administration for Children's Services Commissioner David A. Hansell said the program compliments the work they're doing to ensure children are safe.
"Which seeks to reach families proactively with services, resources, educational messages that can support healthy children, families and communities," he said.
Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot says families can receive up to six home visits.
"Linking families to mental health and other supportive services as quickly and as efficiently as possible and customized to their individual needs," Barbot said.
The initiative addresses two of the most sensitive indicators of how well the city is doing in taking care of their own, says Barbot, infant and maternal mortality.
The U.S. still has the highest maternal death rate in the world.