title: A Community-Based Home Visitation Program's Impact on Birth Outcomes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  MOMS Orange County is a coordinated home visitation program in which trained paraprofessional home visitors work under the close supervision of registered nurses. This model was developed to address health disparities in birth outcomes in a Hispanic community in Orange County, CA.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The primary objective was to test the impact of MOMS Orange County on birth outcomes. The second objective was to examine the breadth of prenatal health education topics as a mediator of the relationship between home visits and birth outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective cohort design was used. Paraprofessional home visitors collected prenatal and postnatal data during home visits. Only those whose birth outcomes were obtained were included in the analysis (N = 2,027 participants). Regression models were conducted to test the associations between prenatal home visits and birth outcomes, adjusting for 10 covariates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Number of prenatal home visits predicted higher birthweight and greater gestational age at birth. Breadth of health education topics partially mediated the associations between home visits and birthweight. The same mediation was revealed with gestational age at birth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The MOMS Orange County prenatal home visitation program may be a promising approach to decrease adverse birth outcomes in disadvantaged communities. Rigorously designed studies are needed to further test this model.
authors.affiliation: Yuqing Guo is an Assistant Professor, University of California Irvine, Program in Nursing Science, Irvine, CA. The author can be reached via e-mail at gyuqing@uci.edu Pamela Pimentel is the Chief Executive Officer, MOMS Orange County, Santa Ana, CA. Jared Lessard is a Postdoctoral Fellow, Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, NY. Julie Rousseau is an Assistant Clinical Professor, University of California Irvine, Program in Nursing Science, Irvine, CA. Jung-Ah Lee is an Assistant Professor, University of California Irvine, Program in Nursing Science, Irvine, CA. Yvette Bojorquez is the Chief Program Officer, MOMS Orange County, Santa Ana, CA. Michele Silva is the Chief Development Officer, MOMS Orange County, Santa Ana, CA. Ellen Olshansky is a Professor, University of California Irvine, Program in Nursing Science, Irvine, CA.
authors.forename: Yuqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pimentel
authors.forename: Jared
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lessard
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rousseau
authors.forename: Jung-Ah
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yvette
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bojorquez
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Olshansky
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002140:California; D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006792:House Calls; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016389:Maternal-Child Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011181:Postnatal Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012189:Retrospective Studies