Impact of a mother–infant intervention in an indigent peri-urban South African context

BACKGROUND: A high rate of maternal depression and associated disturbance in the mother-infant relationship has been found in an indigent peri-urban South African community, Khayelitsha. The question arises whether a community-based intervention could be beneficial. AIMS: To train community workers to deliver an intervention to mothers and infants in Khayelitsha, and to compare mothers and infants receiving this intervention with a sample receiving no such intervention. METHOD: Four Khayelitsha women were trained in a mother-infant intervention, which they delivered to 32 women recruited in late pregnancy. At 6 months post-partum, maternal mood, the mother-infant relationship and infant growth were assessed. The findings were compared with a matched group of 32 mothers and infants. RESULTS: There was no reliable impact of the intervention on maternal mood. However, compared with the comparison sample, the quality of mother-infant engagement was significantly more positive for those who had received the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The pilot study produced preliminary evidence of a benefit of a community-based mother-infant intervention delivered by trained, but otherwise unqualified, community workers, sufficient to warrant a formal controlled evaluation of this treatment.