- Log in to post comments
Subgroups
This study was a randomized controlled trial. The study aimed to enroll unmarried women who had low incomes. To be eligible to participate, a woman had to be at least 29 weeks pregnant, have had no previous live births, and have no chronic illnesses that might influence the health and development of the fetus. In addition, the mothers had to meet at least two of the following socioeconomic risk factors: be unmarried, have less than 12 years of education, or be unemployed. A total of 1,290 women who received services from the obstetrical clinic at the Regional Medical Center in Memphis met the eligibility criteria and were invited to participate. After completing informed consent, the women were randomly assigned to an intervention or comparison condition. After this, they were eligible to begin receiving assigned services. Participants enrolled from June 1990 to August 1991. A total of 1,139 women completed informed consent and were randomized to one of several intervention or comparison conditions. The two groups followed in the study contained 743 participants, including 228 participants in the intervention condition and 515 in the comparison condition.
The intervention was studied for 12 years.
The study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health at the National Institutes of Health and by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention at the U.S. Department of Justice.
All participants were women who were at least 29 weeks pregnant and expecting their first child to be born at of the start of the study. About 9 percent of participants were White, and less than 2 percent were married at the start of the program. The average age at enrollment was 18, and participants had, on average, about 10 years of education.
Memphis/Shelby County Health Department
A trial of the program was conducted in Elmira, NY, a semirural area. This study is a replication of the trial in an urban area with a minority population.
The Prenatal and Infancy Home Visiting by Nurses program provided intensive nurse home visiting services to first-time mothers who had sociodemographic risk factors, including being unmarried, having less than 12 years of education, or being unemployed. Home visits focused on improving health-related behaviors and parenting, as well as developing personal goals related to educational attainment and employment. These services took place during the mother's pregnancy, as well as at one postpartum visit before the mother left the hospital, one postpartum visit at home, and continued visits until the child was 24 months old. Mothers also received free transportation to and from scheduled prenatal care appointments. After the child was born, the children received developmental screening and referral services when they were 6, 12, and 24 months old.
The comparison group received free transportation to and from scheduled prenatal care appointments. After the child was born, the group received developmental screening and referral services when the child was 6, 12, and 24 months old.
None
Participants received services during their pregnancy and through the child's second birthday.
Not described.
The program took place in Memphis, TN. Service were delivered in the home of the participant and in a regional medical center.
Maternal outcomes: socioeconomic status; relationship with biological father; intimate partner violence; role impairment due to alcohol or other drug use; moderate/heavy alcohol use; marijuana use; incarceration; arrests; symptoms of psychological distress, borderline or clinical; duration of current partner relationship; months between first and second children; cumulative subsequent births; maternal mastery; child foster care placements; spontaneous and therapeutic abortions; still births; low birth-weight newborns; and neonatal intensive care unit admissions.
Child outcomes: attended Head Start, preschool, day care, or any early intervention; academic engagement; classroom social skills; mental processing composite; receptive vocabulary; internalizing behaviors; externalizing behaviors; GPA; reading and math achievement tests; conduct grades; antisocial behavior; academically focused behavior; peer affiliation; conduct failures; depressive and anxiety disorders; disruptive behavior disorders; grade retention; and special education placement.