LANE COUNTY – Families with new babies can get assistance from nurses right in their homes through a program offered by the Oregon Health Authority. Family Connects Oregon launched in Oregon in 2021 and recently spread to Lane County residents.
Lane County received a grant to initiate the program, and since serving the residents of Eugene, Springfield, Cottage Grove, Creswell, and Oakridge, it has assisted 256 families in 2025.
Families welcoming new babies can have a registered nurse provide support and address various needs, including infant care, parental support, and community resource referrals.
Welcoming a child can be overwhelming for parents, as they worry about growth rates, food intake, and sleep patterns.
“All those things can really create such a stressful time for parents in an already challenging period of time. Coming in and observing a feeding and providing support, and acknowledging this is hard work, and you’re doing an amazing job, and your baby looks great, it changes the looks on people’s faces,” said FCO nurse Christa Barth.
The program starts when the baby is about three weeks old. A registered nurse will come to the home to visit the baby and the family. The nurse will check the newborns’ and caregivers’ health, answer questions, and connect the family with community resources they may need. Nurses can offer tips on lactation, feeding, bathing, sleeping, and swaddling. They can also discuss postpartum healing, home safety, bonding tips, what to do if the baby is crying, and what to expect as the baby grows.
Visits typically occur once or twice per family, with an initial visit of about two hours. While the baby may naturally receive extensive monitoring from doctors, the FCO program also provides support for the caregiver.
“Something I really enjoyed about this particular model is we get to focus on the parent as well,” FCO nurse Siria Ochoa said. “I really enjoy kind of bringing that focus back to mom, that mom deserves care as well, or the parent deserves care as well. And so something I’ve really connected parents with frequently is just getting established with a primary care doctor, because during that initial period, your body will change in so many ways. If something new comes up, I want you to have somewhere you can go to address those concerns.”
Grant money allows the program to extend services to 12 counties in Oregon. The program is provided at no cost to the family. Alisha Pierzina, supervisor for FCO Lane County, said the grant will cover expenses until next year or so.
“Then the long-term hope is the funding and the revenue that the program brings in will allow us to continue to serve the Lane County residents,” she said.
Services are universally available to all families welcoming a new baby, whether they are uninsured, adopting, fostering, or expecting another child.
Interested families expecting new babies can check out the free program at familyconnectsoregon.org.
Did you know?
■ According to Oregon Health Authority data, 15% of people who gave birth in Lane County last year were 30-35 years old, the largest age group.
■ In 2017, 3,458 births happened in Lane County, and in 2025, that number dropped to 2,423.
■ Of the 2,423 births in Lane County last year, 1,006 of them were a family’s first baby.
■ In Oregon, 93.8% (30,397 births) received adequate prenatal care, and 6.2% (2,013 births) did not.
■ Since launching in Oregon in 2021, Family Connects Oregon has provided more than 5,000 home visits to families throughout the state.
■ Evidence shows that the Family Connects model improved maternal and child health and safety, with 50% fewer trips to the emergency room in the child’s first year, and 30% lower likelihood of postpartum depression among birth moms.
