Home Visiting for Low Income, Pregnant Women

In the Pico-Union/Koreatown community of Los Angeles investigators are designing a preventive health care model that increases the opportunities for families to make healthy choices -- in their homes, schools \& communities. The project's key element is: Lay community health workers (paraprofessionals) - Mentor Mothers (MM) (promotoras) - who make home visits to pregnant mothers \& newly-delivered mothers who have agreed to participate in the research study. Investigators hope to achieve the following outcomes: 1) lower maternal BMI at 6 months post-birth; 2) longer duration of breastfeeding; 3) less alcohol, smoking, and drug use during pregnancy; and 4) increased and consistent prenatal and postnatal healthcare adherence. Investigators will implement the study with 6 MMs, who will maintain an average caseload of 16 women each across an 18-month period. Each participant will be visited (or receive the intervention by telephone) twice per month. Separate Assessment Team members will conduct assessments at: Baseline, within a week of birth of the target child, and 6 months from birth.