SAYLORSBURG, Pa. — It's been two years since Veronica Cox of Bushkill was pregnant with her first child, Hunter.
During that time, she reached out to Nurse-Family Partnership, an organization that helps first-time pregnant women.
"It's been nice to kinda have somebody who obviously does this for a living who was in my corner. Who I could talk to about the different things of really understanding what the book knowledge was and putting it to that reality and having that experience and having that backbone," Cox said.
Cox and many other moms celebrated a milestone not only for themselves but for the organization.
Nurse-Family Partnership celebrated 20 years of service at Mazezilla near Saylorsburg.
The program takes first-time moms in the Pocono region and matches them with a registered nurse who works with mom and baby until the baby is two years old, offering free support and education.
"Maybe a food insufficiency, maybe they have trouble with housing, Maybe they don't have a job. Maybe they have trouble with insurance or just do not have the support that they need from family members and friends. So what that nurse does is provide education, support and guides them through this journey," Teri Zuba, Nurse-Family Partnership manager with Lehigh Valley Pocono, said.
Every year Nurse-Family Partnership hosts a graduation ceremony where families come together to celebrate.
"I would like to say there are words, but there's just not. It's one of those experiences where you just have to go with it. You have to experience it to have that whole different level of confidence," Cox said.
"They might not have had a great role model to be a mom. So our goal is to show them exactly what is needed to be a great mom, and then they do. They just do. They just blossom," Zuba said.
More than 300,000 first-time moms have participated in the program.
Parents we spoke with say they recommend all soon-to-be mothers to take part.
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