Nurse-Family Partnership-Lancaster County

Better Worlds Start with Great Families, and Great Families Start With Us!  

Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is a national community health program offered in Lancaster County by Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health in collaboration with the United Way of Lancaster County.  NFP is leading a broad-based social movement to break cycles of poverty and empower women to transform their lives, their babies’ lives and the lives of their families. 

 First-time mothers facing high-risk factors, often outside of their control, come to Nurse-Family Partnership with a big goal in mind: to be a great parent to their new baby and to change their life for the better. Specially-trained registered nurses become the new mothers trusted guide to walk alongside their journey into motherhood. 

 Mothers who graduate from the NFP program and develop a vision for their future, are more likely to graduate from high school, a trade school or college and earn a living wage for their families. Babies experience improved health outcomes and are more likely to be born full term, receive breast milk and experience less developmental delays. Nurse-Family Partnership empowers vulnerable first-time moms to transform their lives and create better futures for themselves and their babies.

Who We Are

When new parents have the resources and support needed to raise happy, healthy children, they are better equipped to break cycles of trauma, poverty and poor health. By addressing the needs of the family as a whole – both parent and child together – Nurse-Family Partnership has a dual-generation approach and impact that lasts long into the child and family’s future

Over more than four decades, research consistently has proven that Nurse-Family Partnership succeeds at its most important goals: keeping children healthy and safe, and improving the lives of moms and babies.

Nurse-Family Partnership works by having specially trained nurses regularly visit young, first-time moms-to-be, starting early in the pregnancy, and continuing through the child’s second birthday. The expectant moms benefit by getting the care and support they need to have a healthy pregnancy. At the same time, new mothers develop a close relationship with a nurse who becomes a trusted resource they can rely on for advice on everything from safely caring for their child to taking steps to provide a stable, secure future for them both. Through the partnership, the nurse provides new moms with the confidence and the tools they need not only to assure a healthy start for their babies, but to envision a life of stability and opportunities for success for both mom and child.