New Parent Support Program

The New Parent Support Program is a team made up of nurses, social workers and home visitation specialists who offer support and guidance by helping parents:

• Build strong, healthy bonds with their infants and toddlers that will lay the foundation for their social and emotional development
• Manage the demands of parenting, especially when impacted by deployments and other military operations
• Remain flexible and responsive when navigating daily life
• Build a strong support network
• Respond to infant and toddler behavior sensitively and be attuned to their developmental needs
• Find services in the local community in time of need

Learn more about the New Parent Support Program and contact your installation New Parent Support Program office to find out what’s available at your installation.

New Parent Support Program staff are child development professionals, including registered nurses, clinical social workers, and para-professionals trained in the delivery and practice of established home visiting models. The program is supervised and monitored at the installation level by the Family Advocacy program manager.

The program is available to military families who are expecting a baby or have children age 3 or younger. Marine Corps eligibility includes families with at least one child under 5.

Contact your installation New Parent Support Program office or Family Advocacy Program office.

The New Parent Support Home Visitation Program (NPSHVP) is a free support service program designed to meet the needs of expectant active-duty military personnel, their spouses and those families with children under the age of four. The program is to provide prenatal and parenting skills education to active-duty service members and their families.

NPSHVP's primary goal is to enhance their quality of life by empowering parents to meet the challenges of parenthood while maintaining a military lifestyle. The program offers a variety of services, including prenatal health and nutrition consultation, breastfeeding education, early child development education, parenting skills and home visitation services.

New Parent Support Home Visitation Program professionals know that raising a family is very rewarding and sometimes can be challenging. The Home Visitors are committed to helping active-duty parents and their children maintain a strong and healthy family.

The NPSHVP consist of a team of professionals providing supportive and caring services to military families with new babies. In the program, new Moms and Dads can be referred to community new baby programs and are eligible to participate in a voluntary home visitation program, free of charge.

The New Parent Support Home Visitation Program is to assist military families in ways that friends and family would do if you were back home. This program offers expectant parents and parents of newborn and young children the opportunity to learn new skills as parents and to improve existing parenting skills, in the privacy of their own home.

The New Parent Support Home Visitation Program can help you:

• Cope with stress
• Manage the additional physical and emotional demands of parenting due to separation and deployment of the Service member
• Nurture children to promote growth and development
• Answer questions about the everyday challenges of parenthood
• Locate local services and resources that can help parents with young children

Enrolling in the New Parent Support Home Visitation Program is easy! Contact your local FFSC at (757) 462-7563 and ask for the nearest New Parent Support Program Specialist.

What You Will Learn

Becoming a new parent is a time of excitement and anxiety. We can help you develop or improve your parenting skills in the privacy of your own home. Whether you are expecting your first child or already have children up to three years of age, your local Fleet and Family Support Center has friendly staff members who can help you become a better parent.

You will learn:

• How to bond with baby.
• How to child-proof your home and prepare it for baby’s arrival.
• The stages of child development.
• Skills, strategies and techniques to promote the growth and development of your child.
• How to balance the demands of caring for your child with caring for yourself.

We do not have to remind you that raising a family in the military is not always easy. Moves. Deployments. Separation. Stress. Being a single parent has its own set of challenges when taking on the roles of Sailor, parent and trying to find time to take care of yourself. That is why we say that if you are feeling a little anxiety, it really is normal! You are not alone. We can help.

What Will the Visits Be Like

Expect laughter! This is no home inspection or white-glove test. If you already have kids, your home visitor will probably show up with toys, games and spend a fair amount of time sitting on the floor with you and the kids.

If your child is not yet born, we will talk about prenatal information from pregnancy to birth and infant care.

We will begin by taking time to learn what you know, what you need and where your concerns are. Then, we will create a schedule of future support visits that fit your schedule.

Prenatal Services

New Parent Support Home Visitation Program offers prenatal information about pregnancy, birth and infant care.

Both Mom and Dad learn through the Nurturing Pre-Natal Family Program how to:

• Bond with baby
• Nurture themselves and their partners
• Prevent drug-related birth defects
• Handle stress and anger
• Explore their thoughts on discipline
• Prevent drug-related birth defects
• Use infant massage
• Celebrate the birth
• Deal with physical and emotional changes
• Strengthen the bond with their partner 

NPSHVP also has additional information about:

• Siblings preparing for a new family member
• Resources in your own community
• Current hot topics concerning parenting
• Information on breast feeding

Resources

Text4baby supports moms by providing accurate, text-length health information and resources in a format that is personal and timely. The registration process only takes a few minutes.

ZERO TO THREE is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to "promote the healthy development of our nation's infants and toddlers." Zero to Three supports military families through increasing awareness and collaboration throughout the military community so that parents and professionals can more effectively care for very young children and their families.

[Video] "Birth to Three - The Defining Years" focuses on the importance of parenting young children, from the Department of Defense.

Little Kids, Big Questions: A ZERO TO THREE Podcast Series on Early Childhood Development - addresses some of the most common (and challenging) issues facing parents of babies and toddlers, such as helping a baby learn to sleep through the night; dealing with a picky eater; and learning to set limits on children’s behavior.

Coming Together Around Military Families

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission - Recalls and Product Safety News

The Breastfeeding Network provides support and information for breastfeeding women and those involved in their care.

Keeping Babies Safe is a free information resource that offers the most reliable crib and sleep safety information, safety tips, and product recall information so parents, caregivers and hospital personnel can remain vigilant about keeping babies safe in their nursery.