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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2016 Nov;17(8):937-948.
doi: 10.1007/s11121-016-0676-x.

Thirty-Six-Month Outcomes of a Generalist Paraprofessional Perinatal Home Visiting Intervention in South Africa on Maternal Health and Child Health and Development

Mark Tomlinson  1 , Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus  2 , Ingrid M le Roux  3 , Maryann Youssef  4 , Sandahl H Nelson  4 , Aaron Scheffler  4 , Robert E Weiss  5 , Mary O'Connor  4 , Carol M Worthman  6
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Thirty-Six-Month Outcomes of a Generalist Paraprofessional Perinatal Home Visiting Intervention in South Africa on Maternal Health and Child Health and Development

Mark Tomlinson et al. Prev Sci. 2016 Nov.

Abstract

Almost all pregnant women (98 %) in 24 Cape Town neighborhoods were randomized by neighborhood to (1) the standard care (SC) condition (n = 12 neighborhoods; n = 594 pregnant women) or (2) the Philani Intervention Program (PIP) in which home visits by Community Health Workers (CHW) were conducted (n = 12 neighborhoods; n = 644 pregnant women). At 36 months post-birth (84.6 % follow-up), PIP mothers were significantly less depressed compared to the SC mothers. Children in PIP were significantly less likely to be stunted (24.3 vs 18.1 %, p = 0.013), to have better vocabularies, and were less likely to be hospitalized than children in the SC condition. These data suggest home visits may need to continue for several years post-birth. Sustainable, scalable perinatal intervention models are needed in LMIC.

Keywords: Community health workers; Maternal depression; Perinatal home visiting.

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Conflict of interest statement

of Potential Conflicts of Interest: The authors disclose that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Movement of participants through the RCT at assessment points comparing mothers in a control condition and a home visiting intervention.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Proportion of children with height-for-age < -2 (stunting) +/-2 SE at assessment for intervention and control groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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