Bringing Home Baby With A Little Help
By Kathy Walsh
DENVER (CBS4) - Bringing a new baby home from the hospital is exciting, but it's also scary. New parents have a lot to figure out. For years now, Kaiser Permanente Colorado has been helping ease the transition from hospital to home with nurses making house calls.
On a Monday in May, Debbie Pierce, an Advanced Practice Nurse with Kaiser, stopped by the Willson home in Denver. Cora Lynn Willson is 8 days old. Her parents, Stacy and Steven, are both delighted and exhausted.
"It's been challenging, up a lot of nights," said new father Steven Willson.
"I think we didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into totally," said new mother Stacy Romero.
But they've been learning about the care and feeding of little Cora from Pierce. For nearly 29 years, she's been making house calls to new parents who can use some help. It was her second visit to the Willson home.
"The first time she came in, I had pictures of like, poop and stuff, and I was like, 'Is this normal?'" said Steven Willson.
Advanced Practice Nurse Pierce was back to check on Cora's weight and her jaundice. She conducted the same physical a days-old baby would get at the doctor's office.
Pierce, who is also a Certified Lactation Consultant, helps new mothers with the challenges of breastfeeding and coping with change.
"How to look for signs of postpartum depression, what she can expect emotionally over these next few weeks," explained Pierce.
Kaiser has been offering new parents a home visit since 1981.
"So they don't have to get into that environment where there are sick people and big crowds," Pierce told CBS4 Health Specialist Kathy Walsh.
"It's been great. A lot of our concerns have been addressed. We're just moving forward," said Stacy Romero.
The new parents are now caring for Cora with a little more confidence in the comfort of home.
Kaiser credits the home visit program with keeping moms and babies from making unnecessary trips back to the hospital. And Pierce says over the years the Advanced Practice Nurses who make home visits have been able to catch health problems with babies before they become serious.
Kathy Walsh is CBS4's Weekend Anchor and Health Specialist. She has been with CBS4 for more than 30 years. She is always open to story ideas. Follow Kathy on Twitter @WalshCBS4.
