‘Saved my baby:’ Le Bonheur celebrates 15 years of program supporting 1st-time moms, expands to rural areas

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital’s Nurse-Family Partnership program is celebrating 15 years of supporting first-time mothers.

The program was launched in 2010, and according to the hospital, has helped over 1,600 first-time mothers in Shelby County since then.

“I was a first-time mom with a high-risk pregnancy. So, they didn’t think my baby was going to make it,” said Octavia Quarles, an NFP graduate and advocate.

Quarles said her baby is turning 14 years old, and it’s all thanks to her nurse from the NFP program at Le Bonheur.

“My nurse followed me from when I was pregnant all the way until she turned two. She guided me through the journey, kept me out of the emergency room, taught me about breastfeeding, helped me through school, helped me with housing, it’s like NFP was my safety net. My umbrella,” said Quarles.

Quarles said she’s finishing up her doctorate degree and was able to have more children, all while helping other first-time mothers find the program, which was developed by Dr. David Olds and his colleagues nearly 50 years ago.

Dr. Olds said they then conducted a randomized clinical trial right here in Memphis.

“The Memphis findings have been stellar. They show that when we serve those with deep needs, there are life-changing, life-altering improvements in the mothers and children’s health of the life course,” said Olds.

Olds said first-time mothers are paired with a registered nurse from pregnancy through the child’s second birthday. According to the hospital, Le Bonheur’s NFP team has 24 nurses providing free, personalized support, including attending OB/GYN and pediatric appointments with clients.

“Children, in the nurses’ set of conditions, were less likely to have disabilities at age 18. Those in the nurse-visited group were more likely to graduate with honors from high school,” said Olds.

Old said there are also direct benefits to mothers, like a reduction in hypertension. He said the program also aims to improve pregnancy outcomes, enhance child health and development, and increase family economic self-sufficiency.

Olds said with the success of the program, they are expanding services to more counties like Tipton, Madison, Haywood and Fayette.

Quarles said her message to other mothers is that they are not alone.

“It helped save my life and my child’s life because once again, I had a high-risk pregnancy like my baby quit moving, my doctors wasn’t listening to me, and my nurse was like, ‘No. I’ll meet you at the hospital, I’m going with you,’ and that saved my baby,” said Quarles.

The celebration also featured the latest class of graduates in the NFP program.

Click here to sign up for our newsletter!

Click here to report a spelling or grammar error. Please include the headline.

Copyright 2025 WMC. All rights reserved.