Skip to main content

Status of Birth Outcomes in Clients of the Nurse-Family Partnership

Maternal and Child Health Journal volume 21, pages 995–1001 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Background The Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is a national, evidence-based home visiting program currently serving over 30,000 first-time, low-income mothers. Prior to public implementation, three foundational randomized controlled trials demonstrated program effectiveness in achieving beneficial birth, child development, and maternal life-course outcomes. This study describes birth outcomes of contemporary NFP clients compared to a reference cohort, providing the first evidence of program effect on a nation-wide basis during scale-up. Methods A cohort of NFP clients beginning the program between 7/1/2007-6/30/2010 was compared to a reference cohort of first-time mothers from publicly available birth data (US Natality Data). Employing propensity score matching, NFP clients (n = 27,195) were each matched to three controls based on maternal age, race-ethnicity, smoking status, education, and marital status. Measures of low birth weight and preterm birth were compared between clients and controls using McNemar’s Tests. Results Similar to the foundational trials, no significant difference in low birth weight was observed (NFP 9.4%, matched controls 9.6%, p = 0.20). However, in contrast to the foundational trials, the incidence of preterm births in NFP clients was significantly lower than in matched controls (8.7% vs. 12.3%, respectively; p < 0.0001). Discussion A recent review of NFP birth outcomes employing data pooling techniques (overcoming the statistical power limitations of the original foundational trials) has shown a trend toward a favorable program effect in the incidence of preterm births. The present study provides evidence of such an effect in a well-powered evaluation of recent clients during nation-wide scale-up, with these results meriting further confirmation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2013). Definition of term pregnancy. Committee opinion no. 579. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 122, 1139–1140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergstralh, E., & Kosanke, J. (2003). Locally written SAS macros - gmatch macro. Mayo Clinic, Department of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics. Retrieved June 7, 2013 from http://www.mayo.edu/research/departments-divisions/department-health-sciences-research/division-biomedical-statistics-informatics/software/locally-written-sas-macros.

  • Carabin, H., Cowan, L. D., Beebe, L. A., Skaggs, V. J., Thompson, D., & Agbangla, C. (2005). Does participation in a nurse visitation programme reduce the frequency of adverse perinatal outcomes in first-time mothers? Paediatric Perinatal Epidemiology, 19, 194–205.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eckenrode, J., Campa, M., Luckey, D. W., Henderson, C. R., Cole, R., Kitzman, H., Anson, E., Sidora-Arcoleo, K., Powers, J., & Olds, D. (2010). Long-term effects of prenatal and infancy nurse home visitation on the life course of youths: 19-year follow-up of a randomized trial. Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, 164, 9–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howland, R. E., Mulready-Ward, C., Madsen, A. M., Sackoff, J., Nyland-Funke, M., Bombard, J. M., & Tong, V. T. (2015). Reliability of reported maternal smoking: Comparing the birth certificate to maternal worksheets and prenatal and hospital medicine records, New York city and Vermont, 2009. Maternal Child Health Journal, 19(9), 1916–1924.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kitzman, H. J., Olds, D. L., Cole, R. E., Hanks, C. A., Anson, E. A., Arcoleo, K. J., Luckey, D. W., Knudtson, M. D., Henderson, C. R., & Holmberg, J. R. (2010). Enduring effects of prenatal and infancy home visiting by nurses on children: Follow-up of a randomized trial among children at age 12 years. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 164, 412–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitzman, H. J., Olds, D. L., Henderson, C. R., Hanks, C., Cole, R., Tatelbaum, R., McConnochie, K. M., Sidora, K., Luckey, D. W., Shaver, D., Engelhardt, K., James, D., & Barnard, K. (1997). Effect of prenatal and infancy home visitation by nurses on pregnancy outcomes, childhood injuries, and repeated childbearing: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 278, 644–652.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kitzman, H. J., Olds, D. L., Sidora, K., Henderson, C. R., Hanks, C., Cole, R., Luckey, D. W., Bondy, J., Cole, K., & Glazner, J. (2000). Enduring effects of nurse home visitation on maternal life course: A 3-year follow-up of a randomized trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 283, 1983–1989.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mejdoubi, J., van den Heijkant, S. C., van Leerdam, F. J., Crone, M., Crijnen, A., & Hirasing, R. (2014). Effects of nurse home visitation on cigarette smoking, pregnancy outcomes and breastfeeding: A randomized controlled trial. Midwifery, 30, 688–695.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, T. R. (2013). Nurse-Family Partnership home visitation: costs, outcomes, and return on investment. Calverton, MD: Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, T. R. (2015). Projected outcomes of Nurse-Family Partnership home visitation during 1996–2013, USA. Prevention Science, 16(6), 765–777.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • National Center for Health Statistics. Vital statistics data available online – Birth data files. Last Edited Dec 30, 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2015 from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/Vitalstatsonline.htm#Downloadable.

  • Nguyen, J. D., Carson, M. L., Parris, K. M., & Place, P. (2003). A comparison pilot study of public health field nursing home visitation program interventions for pregnant Hispanic adolescents. Public Health Nursing, 20, 412–418.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Northam, S., & Knapp, T. R. (2006). The reliability and validity of birth certificates. Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Neonatal Nursing, 35, 3–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olds, D. L., Eckenrode, J., Henderson, C. R., Kitzman, H., Powers, J., Cole, R., Sidora, K., Morris, P., Pettitt, L. M., & Luckey, D. (1997). Long-term effects of home visitation on maternal life course and child abuse and neglect. Fifteen-year follow-up of a randomized trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 278, 637–643.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olds, D. L., Henderson, C. R., & Kitzman, H. (1994). Does prenatal and infancy nurse home visitation have enduring effects on qualities of parental caregiving and child health at 25 to 50 months of life? Pediatrics, 93, 89–98.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olds, D. L., Henderson, C. R., Tatelbaum, R., & Chamberlin, R. (1986). Improving the delivery of prenatal care and outcomes of pregnancy: A randomized trial of nurse home visitation. Pediatrics, 77, 16–28.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olds, D. L., Henderson, C. R., Tatelbaum, R., & Chamberlin, R. (1988). Improving the life-course development of socially disadvantaged mothers: A randomized trial of nurse home visitation. American Journal of Public Health, 78, 1436–1445.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Olds, D. L., Kitzman, H., Cole, R., Robinson, J., Sidora, K., Luckey, D. W., Henderson, C. R., Hanks, C., Bondy, J., & Holmberg, J. (2004a). Effects of nurse home visiting on maternal life course and child development: Age 6 follow-up results of a randomized trial. Pediatrics, 114, 1550–1559.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olds, D. L., Kitzman, H. J., Cole, R. E., Hanks, C. A., Arcoleo, K. J., Anson, E. A., Luckey, D. W., Knudtson, M. D., Henderson, C. R., Bondy, J., & Stevenson, A. J. (2010). Enduring effects of prenatal and infancy home visiting by nurses on maternal life course and government spending: Follow-up of a randomized trial among children at age 12 years. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 164, 412–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olds, D. L., Robinson, J., O’Brien, R., Luckey, D. W., Pettitt, L. M., Henderson, C. R., Ng, R. K., Sheff, K. L., Korfmacher, J., Hiatt, S., & Talmi, A. (2002). Home visiting by paraprofessionals and by nurses: A randomized, controlled trial. Pediatrics, 110, 486–496.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Olds, D. L., Robinson, J., Pettitt, L. M., Luckey, D. W., Holmberg, J., Ng, R. K., Isacks, K., Sheff, K., & Henderson, C. R. (2004b). Effects of home visits by paraprofessionals and by nurses: Age 4 follow-up results of a randomized trial. Pediatrics, 114, 1560–1568.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, D. M., O’Reilly, A. L. R., Luan, X., Dai, D., Localio, A. R., & Christian, C. W. (2011). Variation in pregnancy outcomes following statewide implementation of a prenatal home visitation program. Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, 165, 198–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sonnier, S. W. (2007). Nurse-Family Partnership - Demonstrating results, Prepared for Baptist Community Ministries. New Orleans: Tulane University of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. (As cited by Miller, 2013).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nurse-Family Partnership, National Service Office, 1900 Grant St., Suite 400, Denver, CO, 80203, USA

    William Thorland & Dustin W. Currie

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, 13001 E 17th Place, Campus Box B119, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

    Dustin W. Currie

Authors
  1. William Thorland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dustin W. Currie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to William Thorland.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors are employees of the Nurse-Family Partnership, National Service Office.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 16 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Thorland, W., Currie, D.W. Status of Birth Outcomes in Clients of the Nurse-Family Partnership. Matern Child Health J 21, 995–1001 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-017-2267-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-017-2267-2

Keywords

  • Birth outcomes
  • Preterm birth
  • Low birth weight
  • Home visiting