Babies don’t come with instructions. But in Oregon, they now come with a nurse

Barb Ibrahim, left, drove half an hour to visit Amber and Matt Luman and their new daughter, Esserley. Ibrahim, a nurse of more than 30 years, is part of new program in Oregon that offers free home visits from a registered nurse for any family with a newborn. Credit: Cory Turner / NPR

Barb Ibrahim, a nurse of more than 30 years, unpacks in Matt and Amber Luman’s kitchen, in rural Jefferson County, Ore.

Ibrahim pulls a baby scale from a bottomless, black bag she totes everywhere, like Mary Poppins, and weighs the Lumans’ new daughter, Esserley. Sun lights Esserley, naked but for her diaper, as she wriggles on the smooth, white scale.

A tall window in the kitchen reveals a vertiginous view of the Lumans’ backyard: a rocky cliff’s edge dropping into a steep canyon dotted below by wisps of juniper and a smattering of miniature houses and cars.

Ibrahim drove half an hour to check in on Esserley and her parents. She’s part of a new program, slowly rolling out across Oregon, called Family Connects.

The program offers […]