Abstract
Introduction The Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker (MIHOW) program is a home visiting program, utilizing peer mentors to improve maternal/child health outcomes in underserved communities. Findings are presented from a randomized clinical trial (RCT) testing the efficacy of the MIHOW model in a sample of Hispanic women in Tennessee. We hypothesized maternal and infant outcomes would be better in women assigned to MIHOW than women assigned to the minimal education intervention (MEI) group (receipt of educational materials). Methods Women entered the study during pregnancy (< 26 weeks gestation) and were followed through 6 months postpartum. A total of 188 women were enrolled and randomly assigned (MEI = 94; MIHOW = 94), with 178 women completing the study (MEI = 87; MIHOW = 91). Results Positive and statistically significant (p < 0.01) effects of MIHOW were observed on breastfeeding self-efficacy and exclusivity, levels of depressive symptoms and parenting stress, safe sleep practices, and infant stimulation in the home. No statistically significant differences were noted in number of prenatal visits. Discussion Results expand limited empiric evidence and provide strong support of the effectiveness of MIHOW on improving health outcomes in this sample of Hispanic mothers and their infants. MIHOW is a viable option for providing culturally sensitive services to immigrant and underserved families.
Highlights
Introduction The Maternal Infant Health OutreachWorker (MIHOW) program is a home visiting program, utilizing peer mentors to improve maternal/child health outcomes in underserved communities
Findings from this randomized clinical trial (RCT) suggest that a series of home visits by peer mentors beginning during pregnancy until 6 months postpartum is an effective intervention in reducing depressive symptoms and parenting stress, and improving social and emotional support in Hispanic women
Women assigned to the Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker (MIHOW) group had fewer depressive symptoms and less parenting stress and more social and emotional help, and better infant feeding and safe sleep practices
Summary
Worker (MIHOW) program is a home visiting program, utilizing peer mentors to improve maternal/child health outcomes in underserved communities. We hypothesized maternal and infant outcomes would be better in women assigned to MIHOW than women assigned to the minimal education intervention (MEI) group (receipt of educational materials). The Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker (MIHOW) program began in 1982 as a program to address the lack of healthcare in low income, isolated communities in Maternal and Child Health Journal (2018) 22 (Suppl 1):S92–S104 S93. The key component of this model is the outreach worker or peer mentor. These are women recruited from the target community of the same race, culture and language, who have strong problemsolving and communication skills and familiarity with resources (Elkins et al 2013). Since its beginning over 30 years ago, MIHOW has served an estimated 15,000 families in the Southeastern United States (US) (Elkins et al 2013)
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