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

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.

SUBMITTER: Tomlinson M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5111552 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature