Memphis New Mothers Study, 1990-1994

This study was a randomized trial that tested the
effectiveness of home visitation by nurses as a means of enhancing the
health and well-being of socially disadvantaged women and their
first-born children. Low-income, pregnant women bearing first babies
were randomly assigned to four treatment groups: (1) subjects that
received free transportation to prenatal care, (2) subjects that
received transportation to prenatal care and developmental screening
for the children, (3) subjects that received transportation to
prenatal care and developmental screening, plus prenatal home visits
by nurses, and (4) subjects that received transportation to prenatal
care, developmental screening, prenatal home visits, and postnatal
home visits by nurses. Assessments of the women covered health-related
behaviors, mother's care-giving environment, child's health and
development, levels of social support, mother's psychological
resources, personal life-course development, and costs of health
care. Variables measuring health-related behaviors included the use of
cigarettes and illegal drugs and the presence of sexually-transmitted
diseases. The mother's care-giving environment and the child's health
and development were evaluated by the Bavolek adult-adolescent
parenting interview score, the Caldwell home observation scale, the
Bayley mental development index, the Achenbach child behavioral
problems inventory, and other indices. Levels of social support were
evaluated by the amount of support expected to be received from a
boyfriend or husband and the mother's mother. Assessments of maternal
psychological resources included the Pearlin mastery scale, the
Shipley IQ score, and the Bandura self-efficacy score. Personal
life-course development was assessed by the respondents' educational
and occupational achievements, and the numbers of subsequent
pregnancies and children. Variables measuring the effect of the
program on the cost of health care include number of hospital
emergency room visits, number of hospitalizations, total length of
stay, number of well-child and ill-child doctor visits, and use of
community social services. Other variables provide information on age
at birth, pre-pregnancy weight, birth weight and gender, race,
employment status, income, housing density, and education.