Nurse-Family Partnership provides home visits for families in need during pregnancy and postpartum

A new mother diagnosed with a life-threatening medical emergency is crediting a Spartanburg Regional nurse with saving her life.

Ansley Weston began experiencing chest pain and shortness of breath a couple of weeks after giving birth to her daughter, Annabelle. Her nurse, Debbie Brush, RN, had been checking in on her through a home nursing program when she noticed warning signs and convinced Weston to go to the hospital.

Within minutes, Weston was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism.

She went into surgery to have several blood clots removed from her lungs. And after several days at Spartanburg Medical Center, Weston went back home, where she is now healthy and thriving, and with her daughter again.

A recent airing of the 'Today' show featured the relationship between Weston and Brush on Sept. 29. The nationally televised program highlighted the Nurse-Family Partnership program, one of several initiatives Spartanburg Regional utilizes to provide care to new mothers and babies.

The Nurse-Family Partnership program helps new mothers in need from pregnancy through two years after giving birth. Nurses make routine house visits and regular checkups to provide care, answer questions and offer support however needed to first-time mothers and their babies.

"With the relationships we build, we become a part of the family in a way," said Brush, a Spartanburg Regional nurse of 21 years.

Weston said if it weren't for the bond already formed with her nurse, she would have refused to seek emergency medical care.

"It's not even just the education, it's the fact that as mothers, we tend to downplay everything because we feel like there are more important things. I had first thought, 'I can't go to the hospital. I have to take care of my baby,'" Weston said.

"One-hundred percent, I think this program did save my life."

To view the "Today" show segment, click here.

To learn more about the Nurse-Family Partnership program, visit https://www.spartanburgregional.com/services/maternity/nurse-family-partnership.