Nursing. (AP) New Jersey mothers and their newborns can get in-home visits by a nurse under a new law signed on July 29.
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy called the bill, which passed the Democrat-led Legislature in June, the most “robust universal home visitation program in the nation.”
The bill also sets aside almost $3 million for the state to get the program started.
Under the bill, mothers and their newborns would be eligible for one to three postpartum visits. The visits will include an evaluation of “the physical, emotional, and social factors affecting parents and their newborn,” according to the governor.
Those factors include physical and mental health wellness checks, breastfeeding support and reproductive planning, environmental assessments of the home, and assessments for social determinants of health.
The bill passed the Legislature without any opposition.