Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is pouring $2.25 million into expanding a program that sends registered nurses into the homes of new parents within days of childbirth — and the backlash has been swift.
The Welcome Family program is billed as voluntary, offering postpartum depression screenings, newborn care guidance and connections to community resources. But critics are calling it "creepy" and "massive government overreach," arguing that doctors and pediatricians already handle these screenings.
The expansion comes as Massachusetts grapples with heightened attention to postpartum mental health during the Lindsay Clancy trial, where a former labor and delivery nurse is accused of killing her three young children. Clancy's defense has centered on severe postpartum mental illness.