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CWHA is a non-profit dedicated to improving maternal health in its communities. CWHA works with programs that provide doulas and postnatal education to first-time mothers.

A new mom named Marsha, who didn't share her surname, spoke beside McCray and explained the helpful benefits she received from CWHA, such as breastfeeding support and safe-sleep education.

\"They always check in on me, and it feels like I'm not alone,\" Marsha said, adding she supports the initiative to be expanded to all families.

#NewFamilyHomeVisits will provide a coordinated approach to offering proven services to new families, regardless of socioeconomic status, immigration status or race. Because every family is susceptible to these types of potentially destabilizing experiences.

— Commissioner Oxiris Barbot (@NYCHealthCommr) February 5, 2020

Dr. Oxiris Barbot, a pediatrician and the commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, noted that home visits strengthen bonds between parents and their babies.

\"They lower the risk for maternal anxiety, depression and other health challenges,\" Barbot said. \"New Family Home Visits provides a coordinated approach to offering proven services to new families independent of socioeconomic status, immigration status or race because every family is susceptible to these types of potentially destabilizing experiences.\"

In New York City, we value every parent and child. We want every family to thrive! #NewFamilyHomeVisits https://t.co/dH7n0CEJHc

— Chirlane McCray (@NYCFirstLady) February 5, 2020

Barbot said the effort will have greater emphasis on screening for depression, anxiety and linking families to helpful resources like mental-health care before and after baby's birth.

Both McCray and Barbot addressed how black babies die at three times the rate of white babies, while black women are eight times more likely to die from childbirth complications than white women.

\"In New York City, we want every mother and baby to thrive,\" McCray said, \"We want moms and babies to be healthy through pregnancy and beyond. We want babies to form strong bonds with their parents and we want parents to have all the support they need at the start of this most important journey. Today, we are making an exciting new step to make that happen.\"

New Family Home Visits aims to help 45,000 families in all five boroughs by 2024.

It will first launch in Brooklyn, where more babies are born than in any other borough, McCray noted.

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