Skip to sections below

Share this program

PrintEmail

Summary

Prenatal and Infancy Home Visiting by Nurses provided home visits intended to promote family economic self-sufficiency by improving maternal life-course outcomes. The program focused on increasing employment, decreasing public benefit usage, and improving family planning.

A registered nurse visited participants at home during pregnancy and their child’s infancy. The nurse promoted healthy prenatal behaviors, parent–child interactions, and practices to encourage the child’s emotional and cognitive development. The nurse helped participants address barriers that prevented them from completing education and finding work. Mothers also received free transportation to and from scheduled prenatal care appointments. After the child was born, the child received developmental screening and referral services when they were 6, 12, and 24 months old. The program provided services during the mother’s pregnancy and until the child was two years old. On average, the nurse visited the mother seven times.

The primary population served included first-time mothers who had sociodemographic risk factors, including being unmarried, having fewer than 12 years of education, or being unemployed. The program was implemented in Memphis, TN and Denver, CO.

101093-Study of Prenatal an
Populations and employment barriers: Parents
28418-Study of Prenatal an
Populations and employment barriers: Parents, Single parents

Effectiveness rating and effect by outcome domain

View table definitions

Scroll to the right to view the rest of the table columns

Outcome domain Term Effectiveness rating Effect in 2024 dollars and percentages Effect in standard deviations Sample size
Increase earnings Short-term Cannot assess support
Long-term Cannot assess support
Very long-term Cannot assess support
Increase employment Short-term Little evidence to assess support Effect size could not be calculated -- 682
Long-term Not supported favorable 2% (in percentage points) 0.040 424
Very long-term Cannot assess support
Decrease benefit receipt Short-term Little evidence to assess support Effect size could not be calculated -- 656
Long-term Supported favorable $-2,278 per year -0.663 1080
Very long-term Cannot assess support
Increase education and training All measurement periods Cannot assess support

Effectiveness ratings

  • Well- supported
  • Supported
  • Mixed support
  • Not supported
  • Insufficient evidence
  • Cannot assess support

Studies of this program

Study quality rating Study counts per rating
High High 2
Back to top

Implementation details

Dates covered by study

The Memphis study enrolled participants between June 1990 and August 1991, with outcomes measured over a 12-year follow-up period.

The Denver study ran from March 1994 through June 1997. Study enrollment occurred from March 1994 to June 1995. Data collection occurred from March 1994 through June 1997, with outcomes measured for a 48-months follow-up period after study enrollment.

Organizations implementing program

Memphis/Shelby County Health Department (Memphis Study); Nurse Family Partnership Staff (Denver Study)

Populations served

All participants were women who were at least 29 weeks pregnant and expecting their first child to be born at of the start of the study. The Denver study additionally required that participants had low incomes and either had no private insurance or qualified for Medicaid. Across the Memphis and Denver studies, the majority of participants were Black or African American (63 percent), with 14 percent of participants being White, not Hispanic, 18 percent another race, and five percent having an unknown race.

Description of services implemented

The Prenatal and Infancy Home Visiting by Nurses program provided intensive nurse home visiting services to first-time mothers who had sociodemographic risk factors, including being unmarried, having less than 12 years of education, or being unemployed. Home visits focused on improving health-related behaviors and parenting, as well as developing personal goals related to educational attainment and employment. These services took place during the mother's pregnancy, as well as at one postpartum visit before the mother left the hospital, one postpartum visit at home, and continued visits until the child was 24 months old. Mothers also received free transportation to and from scheduled prenatal care appointments. After the child was born, the children received developmental screening and referral services when they were 6, 12, and 24 months old.

Service intensity

The program was offered over a 30-month period from prenatal visits through the child's second birthday.

Comparison conditions

In the Memphis study, the comparison group received free transportation to and from scheduled prenatal care appointments. After the child was born, the group received developmental screening and referral services when the child was 6, 12, and 24 months old.

In the Denver study, the comparison group was offered developmental screening and referral services.

Partnerships

The study did not describe any partnerships for implementing the program.

Staffing

Nurses delivering the program were required to have at least a bachelor's degree in nursing (BSN) and experience in community or maternal and child health nursing. In the Memphis study, nurses at the Memphis/Shelby County Health Department implemented the program. In the Denver study, the Nurse-Family Partnership organization assigned nurses to families.

Fidelity measures

The studies did not describe fidelity measures.

Funding source

The Memphis study was funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Grant Number 90PD0215/01; Carnegie Corporation of New York, Grant Number 9704-014; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Grant Number 031052; the National Institute of Mental Health; and the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

The Denver Study was funded by the Colorado Trust, Grant Number 99030; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Grant Number 90PD0232); and a National Institute of Mental Health Senior Research Scientist Award, Grant Number 1-K05-MH01382-01.

The information contained here reflects how the program was implemented at the time of the evaluation.

Local context

The providers and study sites were located in Memphis, TN and Denver, CO.

Characteristics of research participants
Black or African American
63%
White, not Hispanic
14%
Another race
18%
Unknown, not reported, or other
5%

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if the authors reported race and ethnicity separately; in these cases, we report the category White, rather than White, not Hispanic.

State(s) where implemented

AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY Canada

Pathways to Work refers to programs by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some program names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.