LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Virginia –
Raising a child is one of the most demanding, challenging and important things a person will ever do in his or her life.
The Family Advocacy center knows this, and that’s why they offer a New Parent Support Program for military parents.
New parent support program
“The NPSP was established to help military parents who are expecting a child, or have a child up to age three,” said Julie Couture, family advocacy outreach manager, who explained the program is free, voluntary and open to all ranks.
Jane Oribello and Cynthia Barrett are the two NPSP nurses who provide home visits to eligible families.
“We are a home-based program providing education and support to families,” said Ms. Oribello, who added that they exist to help parents cope with the challenges of the military lifestyle.
“The military lifestyle has an impact on your parenting because often you are separated from your spouse, due to deployments or just long working hours and you don’t have your family support system that you would have if you were in the same town you grew up in.”
Contact begins when the new mother is expecting.
“Our goal is to try to contact by phone or letter all expecting mothers who will be delivering at Langley so they know about our program,” said Ms. Oribello.
“We mail them and ask them to fill out a ‘How Can We Help’ questionnaire,” she said, adding that mothers have about 60 options for services and programs they can elect to participate in.
“We can mail them information, give them referrals to other programs and services or do a home visit -- or a combination of any of these.”
Information
During the pregnancy, the NPSP can provide information about breast feeding, bottle feeding preparation, selecting car seats and newborn car education on how to take care of the baby after it is born as well as nutritional information related to pregnancy.
“Basically everything related to their pregnancy, health and preparation for the baby,” Ms. Oribello said.
Referrals
When people are new to the area they don’t know what resources are available. The NPSP works with three major local organizations: Hampton Healthy Family Partnership, Newport News Healthy Family Initiative and Family Focus Programs.
“We try to connect them with civilian as well as military resources,” Ms. Oribello said, describing the Welcome Baby Program, a military/civilian collaboration, where every parent on the peninsula is given a welcome baby “back-pack” at the time of delivery. It provides information about caring for the mother, the baby and additional resources including a refrigerator magnet with names and numbers of local resources and a “Baby goes to sleep” CD, among others.
“This back pack is a $15-20 value and is given to all expecting mothers on the peninsula, regardless of whether they are military or not, or what hospital they deliver in,” Ms. Oribello said.
Home visits
“After birth, we’re focusing more on adjustment to parenthood, coping with a newborn’s sleeping patterns and crying behavior,” said Ms. Oribello, who said the essence of the program is the home visits.
The home visits make it easy for new parents to participate.
“A parent won’t have to pick the baby up, take the spouse to work so he or she can have the car, or get a baby sitter to come to an appointment. We come to them,” Ms. Oribello said.
Not only is this a convenience for the parent, but it also helps Ms. Oribello and Ms. Barret do their job.
“Children will act more normally in their home environment than they would in an office, so we get a better view of the child’s behavior and how the parents can best interact with the infant to promote their growth and development,” said Ms. Oribello.
They can also do developmental screening to identify any areas of concern that can be addressed before they become problems.
“If you have a fussy baby, how can we help you with that -- so you won’t get so exhausted and tired that in the middle of the night you might pick them up and shake them,” she said.
Participation
Anyone who could use some support and information is eligible for this free, confidential service.
“You can have two or three visits, and we do longer and ongoing visits if you have more concerns or more stress factors -- for example a deployment of a spouse,” said Ms. Oribello.
But this program is only beneficial to you if you actually use it.
“Most expectant parents read ‘What to Expect When You Are Expecting’ upon learning they are about to have a child.
Although this and other books, not to mention advice from friends and families, prove to be helpful, the NPSP is a great resource that can help military families with the transition into parenthood,” said Ms. Couture.