Maternal and Child Health Following 2 Home Visiting Interventions vs Control: Five-Year Follow-Up of a Randomized...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Maternal and Child Health
• Early Childhood Intervention

Background:

• Home-based interventions can improve health for socially disadvantaged families.
• Few studies compare staffing models in early home visiting programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effects of two staffing models (midwife-only vs. tandem) in an early childhood intervention on mother and child outcomes.
• To compare intervention effects against standard care for at-risk families.

Main Methods:

• Randomized trial with 755 pregnant women randomized into intervention or control groups.
• Intervention groups received home visits by a midwife or a midwife-social worker team until child age 2.
• Follow-up at child age 7 assessed developmental disorders, child behavior, parenting, and maternal mental health.

Main Results:

• The tandem model reduced internalizing child behavioral problems (13.3 percentage points).
• The midwife-only model reduced abusive parenting, parenting stress, and maternal mental health burden (6.6 percentage points in depressive symptoms).
• Both models showed positive effects, with the midwife-only model demonstrating broader benefits.

Conclusions:

• Both midwife-only and tandem staffing models yield positive outcomes in early childhood interventions.
• The midwife-only model showed greater improvements in parenting and maternal mental health.
• Findings can inform the design of future interventions for socially disadvantaged families.