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Home visits aim for healthy families

By Sara Quam
Rock County parents and babies will get a better start on their lives with the help of a new home visiting program.

Nobles-Rock Public Health and the Rock County Collaborative, along with a sampling of other community agencies, hope to get the program to the public by October.

Colleen Deutsch, a public health nurse, is coordinator of the program called Healthy Families of Rock County.

"The whole goal is to help families - make sure all families have access to programs and services," Deutsch said.

The term "home visiting" means a public health nurse will make contact with families expecting a baby or with a newborn. By touching base, Deutsch hopes parents will know agencies to contact when they need extra help or have basic questions.

Deutsch said information on things like family counseling or even nutrition doesn't get to all families in the county.

Families that struggle to make ends meet, yet don't qualify for financial assistance, don't have connections to social services. Others may not have a network of family or friends to rely on.

Those groups of people often aren't aware of all that they could benefit from - things like car seat safety, daycare options, child development and parent education.

People of all income levels could use extra support when having a baby. Shaken baby syndrome and postpartum depression are things Deutsch said all families need to be aware of and will be given that chance through home visits.

The visits won't necessarily mean a public health nurse shows up at everyone's doorstep. The visits are voluntary and are preferred before the baby is born. Also, new parents can stop by public health to have their babies weighed and gather the same information that would be covered during home visits.

Healthy Families of Rock County ties into another Collaborative program called Books and Babies.

As a measure to encourage healthy reading habits, the Collaborative is sponsoring gifts of books in installments and a trip to the library for new parents in the county. One of the books will be "Rock-a-Bye Baby Reader," by former Luverne resident Carole Olson's.

The Collaborative wants to give that particular book because it is a children's book that is also for parents and encourages babies and parents to read together.

The book emphasizes the importance of early reading to baby's brains. The Collaborative wants to make sure parents read to babies as a vital part of giving children a head start on reading and on learning.

The book program and home visiting combine in an effort to prevent family or social problems before the county has to intervene in other ways.

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