She turns challenges into possibilities for new moms

Anyone who’s ever brought a newborn home from the hospital knows the experience is both joyful and stressful. But the reality behind that moment can look very different from family to family.

Not every mom has a freshly painted nursery and new bassinette waiting for her swaddled child. Some moms don’t have their own transportation. Still others have transportation — but are living in their car.

Courtney Floyd is a lifeline for those moms.

She’s a perinatal (meaning before and after childbirth) community health worker for the Novant Health Coastal Region, which includes New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties. She’s also an international board-certified lactation consultant. She can have between 50 to 80 patients at any one time, and she works with them throughout their pregnancy and for up to the first year of their baby’s life.

Some patients, including those with a complex medical history or who screen positive for one or more of the social drivers of health needs — safe housing, education, access to nutritious foods and more — have a doula present at their baby’s birth. (There are three doulas on staff, including one who speaks Spanish.)

Patients can be referred to Floyd from Novant Health clinics, the local health department and community partners. She begins by screening candidates to be sure they qualify for her program. If they do, she supports them in every way imaginable. Her help goes well beyond medical needs.

Mostly, she said, she wants patients to “feel supported and make sure they know that they’re in the driver’s seat.”

Whoever, wherever

Floyd’s patients include single moms and moms who have partners. Some have one or more kids; others are first-time moms. No matter the patient or her circumstances, the first thing Floyd does is establish trust. She is each mom’s advocate.

Floyd begins by “listening without judgment, showing up consistently, respecting cultural differences and keeping my word,” she said. She doesn’t “have a magic wand, but if you’re willing to work with me, we can find solutions,” she said.

Floyd meets them where they are, both literally and figuratively. If transportation is a barrier, she’ll go to them. She’ll meet them anywhere. If not in their home, it could be at McDonald’s or for a walk in the park.

Recently, immigration-related concerns have been added to some of her patients’ already lengthy list of worries.

“There’s been a big increase in people who are scared to leave home,” she said. She assures them they don’t need to leave home; she’ll come to them. “The way we serve our families is changing,” she said, “but we're still going to serve them wherever we can.”

All in the family

Floyd doesn’t work exclusively with expectant and new moms. “We serve everyone in the family — whatever the family looks like,” she said. “It could be a spouse, friend or partner, and we welcome them to come to appointments with us to learn how to support their partner during pregnancy and labor.”

She helps patients — and their support system — feel confident and empowered by encouraging questions.

She especially loves working with first-time moms. “They’re just so curious, and ready to soak up the information,” she said. “It’s like you become their own personal Google.”

She often has to clear up misconceptions. For instance, many patients think infants need to sleep as long as possible. “But we want babies to wake up frequently — every one to two hours during those first few weeks,” she said. “They have small stomachs and need to eat often.”

She’s got answers

Her patients have the same questions as any new mom — about sleep schedules, nursing and more. But their questions often go beyond caring for a newborn. One recent patient who already had a toddler was suffering from postpartum anxiety, having feeding struggles and had transportation and language barriers on top of that.

Floyd helped the new mom with nursing, with rides to her appointments and with finding a counselor to help navigate postpartum anxiety. The new mom went from missing appointments to attending every single one — and, Floyd said, she began “feeling more secure about her parenting style.”

So. Many. Diapers.

That patient and others like her may miss scheduled doctor’s appointments due to a lack of transportation.

A $100,000 grant from Carolina Complete Health, a provider-led Medicaid health plan, is helping reduce no-show rates for postpartum and well-child visits. A free pack of diapers is an incentive to make those appointments. That’s what moms get for every doctors’ visit they attend.

It’s welcome relief.

First-time moms are often shocked by the cost of diapers and by the number babies can go through in a single day. That’s about six to 12 diapers a day during the first year of their lives. Monthly costs for those diapers can run $70 to $100 — an impossible amount for a mom who’s already struggling to pay her bills.

Care that endures

Some patients may be food insecure but have transportation. Others are housed but don’t have enough to eat.

And then there are patients who face multiple challenges simultaneously. Floyd gives them hope.

Floyd considers her clients and their babies a second family. “I show up for them the way I do for people I love,” she said. Her first family includes three sons: an 11-year-old and 9-year-old twins.

When her patients are ready to graduate, she reminds them she’s always a phone call away. “If they have questions after the year is up, they can still reach me,” she said. “If they need me, they know I’m still here.”