Community health workers can improve child growth of antenatally-depressed, South African mothers : a cluster randomized controlled trial
Date
2015-09-23
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BioMed Central
Abstract
Background: Maternal antenatal depression has long-term consequences for children’s health. We examined if
home visits by community health workers (CHW) can improve growth outcomes for children of mothers who are
antenatally depressed.
Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial of all pregnant, neighbourhood women in Cape Town, South Africa.
Almost all pregnant women (98 %, N = 1238) were recruited and assessed during pregnancy, two weeks post-birth
(92 %) and 6 months post-birth (88 %). Pregnant women were randomized to either: 1) Standard Care (SC), which
provided routine antenatal care; or 2) an intervention, The Philani Intervention Program (PIP), which included SC
and home visits by CHW trained as generalists (M = 11 visits). Child standardized weight, length, and weight by
length over 6 months based on maternal antenatal depression and intervention condition.
Results: Depressed mood was similar across the PIP and SC conditions both antenatally (16.5 % rate) and at
6 months (16.7 %). The infants of depressed pregnant women in the PIP group were similar in height (height-forage
Z scores) to the children of non-depressed mothers in both the PIP and the SC conditions, but significantly
taller at 6 months of age than the infants of pregnant depressed mothers in the SC condition. The intervention did
not moderate children’s growth. Depressed SC mothers tended to have infants less than two standard deviations in
height on the World Health Organization’s norms at two weeks post-birth compared to infants of depressed PIP
mothers and non-depressed mothers in both conditions.
Conclusions: A generalist, CHW-delivered home visiting program improved infant growth, even when mothers’
depression was not reduced. Focusing on maternal caretaking of infants, even when mothers are depressed, is
critical in future interventions.
Description
CITATION: Tomlinson, M., et al. 2015. Community health workers can improve child growth of antenatally-depressed, South African mothers : a cluster randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry, 15:225, doi:10.1186/s12888-015-0606-7.
The original publication is available at https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com
The original publication is available at https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com
Keywords
Postpartum depression, Maternal and infant welfare, Community health services -- Employees
Citation
Tomlinson, M., et al. 2015. Community health workers can improve child growth of antenatally-depressed, South African mothers : a cluster randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry, 15:225, doi:10.1186/s12888-015-0606-7