Effects of a home visiting program on prenatal care and birthweight: A case comparison study

Abstract

Recent reports have stressed the importance of social support services to the health and well being of pregnant women and their newborns. The impact of paraprofessional support services on the amount of prenatal care received and birthweight was studied in a sample of 111 low-income women. Paraprofessionals were women who had been on public assistance and successfully attained health and human services for themselves and their infants. They were similar to the patients they served in educational background and ethnicity. A six-week training program prepared them to counsel and assist pregnant women with health and social services, housing, food, transportation and other basic necessities. Women attending a publically-funded prenatal clinic were randomly assigned to a paraprofessional. A comparison group matched for ethnicity, parity and trimester entering prenatal care was also selected. Women followed by a paraprofessional had significantly more prenatal appointments (8.0 vs 6.5 visits) and infants with average higher birthweight (3125 grams) over the matched comparison group (3273 grams). While intensity of contact with a paraprofessional contributed significantly to the amount of prenatal care received by patients of paraprofessionals, the mechanism for improvement in birthweight is unknown.

Effects of Social Support on Prenatal Care and Health Behaviors of Low-Income Women

“…These programs can offer multidisciplinary services, such as nutrition counseling, prenatal classes, care management, and public health nursing visits (Bradley & Martin, 1994;Norwood, 1994). Such programs may employ paraprofessionals who have life experiences similar to those of low-income pregnant women and who are effective providers of social support (Poland, Giblin, Waller, & Hankin, 1992). Pregnant women are more likely to perceive lay persons as friends who can provide concrete assistance, care, and concern.…”

A socio‐ecological approach to understanding barriers to prenatal care for women of low income

“…Similarly, prenatal home visiting programmes which include health promotion strategies such as education, social support, referral and counselling, are associated with increased birth weight as well as with enhanced use of medical care and community services ( Olds et al. 1986 , Poland et al. 1992 , Bradley & Martin 1994).…”

Linking Low-Income Families to Children's Mental Health Services

“…A long history of employing paraprofessionals to assist with service delivery has existed in the fields of health care (Dawson, Van Doorninck, & Robinson, 1989;Poland, Giblin, Waller, & Hankin, 1992;Sparer & Johnson, 1971), education (Frith & Lindsey, 1980;Jones & Bender, 1993), and mental health (Durlak, 1973;Gartner, 1981;Karlsruher, 1974). A number of researchers have examined the functions that paraprofessionals have served.…”