Frequently Asked Questions

A program that provides a Personal Nurse to support you and your family throughout pregnancy and after your baby is born. Your Nurse will support you to identify and plan for the needs of you, your growing baby, and your family.

MECSH stands for Maternal Early Childhood Sustained Home visiting. MECSH is the name of our evidence-based home visiting model. It helps our nurses structure visits with families, including providing a schedule and topics to cover. Families can enroll in MECSH during pregnancy or up to 8 weeks after baby is discharged from the hospital. Families participate until child turns 2 years old.

Your nurse will come to your home for a visit, or you can choose to meet at an alternative location, like a park. Telehealth or phone visit options are also available. 

Visits typically last one hour. Your nurse will answer any questions you may have, provide anticipatory education about you and your child’s health, and connect you to local resources.

At each visit you will be able to talk with your Nurse about how you and your baby are doing. Your Nurse will share information on caring for and bonding with your baby and playing and talking with your baby to help them grow and learn. Your Nurse can connect you to other local resources that may be beneficial and to help you reach your family’s goals.

Visits usually start during pregnancy or soon after you bring your baby home. Visits continue until your child turns 2 years old. After your baby comes home, your Nurse will visit weekly for 6 weeks and over time the visits are spaced further apart. 

Your nurse will talk with you about what day and time will work best to meet and can be flexible around your schedule. 

Our counties also have a traditional home visiting option for families wanting a couple of visits from a nurse. If after a few visits you decide you want to have ongoing visits with your nurse, you may be able to enroll in MECSH at that time. 

No. While you can ask for a referral to public health home visiting at your clinic or during your hospital stay, you can self-refer by completing our online referral form, calling or texting 763-276-0441, messaging us in our “contact us” section on our website, or asking to be referred to us at your next WIC appointment.

Home visiting is provided at no cost to families. 

No, family home visiting is a voluntary program. If you choose to participate you can change your mind at any time. 

“I had a high-risk pregnancy and stress following the birth. As a first-time mother it’s been great to have the knowledge they provide and someone I can ask, other than my doctors, about the smaller things. My nurse has also been helpful about making sure I had all the resources I need to be a successful mother to my son.” 

In Fall 2022, we offered a Family Feedback Survey to all enrolled families. Of the 62 family respondents:

• 82% expressed improvement in understanding their child's development and parenting skills
• 56% reported more patience with their child's behaviors
• 53% reported improvement in reading their child's cues and their ability to solve problems
• 90% of families felt they always have enough time with home visits (length, frequency) to have needs met
• 97% felt home visiting materials & information were easily understandable and/or provided in their preferred language
• 100% felt respected during home visits in parenting style & choices made for child(ren)
• 100% felt home visiting materials & information are useful for determining what is best for their child(dren)
• 94% confident that they can do a good job raising their child(ren) since participating in home visiting

Home visiting is available throughout the state of Minnesota (and United States)! You can contact your county’s public health office to find out more. If you are unsure where to start, you can call/text us at 763-276-0441 and we can help connect you to someone.

Give us a call/text at 763-276-0441 or send us a message in our “contact us” section on our website, or email referrals@firststepscentralmn.org. We are happy to answer any additional questions you may have.