Maternal adverse childhood experiences on child growth and development in rural Pakistan: An observational cohort study

Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have significant impacts on the next generation with links to negative birth outcomes, impaired cognitive development, and increased socioemotional problems in children. However, not all types or levels of adversity are similarly deleterious and research from diverse contexts is needed to better understand why and how intergenerational transmission of adversity occurs. We examined the role of maternal ACEs on children’s growth, cognitive, and socioemotional development at 36 months postpartum in rural Pakistan. We used data from 877 mother-child dyads in the Bachpan Cohort, a birth cohort study. Maternal ACEs were captured using an adapted version of the ACE-International Questionnaire. Outcomes at 36 months of age included child growth using the WHO growth z-scores, fine motor and receptive language development assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, and socioemotional and behavioral development measured with the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Socioemotional and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. To estimate the associations between maternal ACEs and child outcomes, we used multivariable generalized linear models with inverse probability weights to account for sampling and loss to follow-up. Over half of mothers in our sample (58%) experienced at least one ACE. Emotional abuse, physical abuse, and emotional neglect were the most commonly reported ACEs. We found null relationships between the number of maternal ACEs and child growth. Maternal ACEs were associated with higher fine motor and receptive language development and worse socioemotional and behavioral outcomes. Maternal ACE domains had similarly varying relationships with child outcomes. Our findings highlight the complexity of intergenerational associations between maternal ACEs and children’s growth and development. Further work is necessary to examine these relationships across cultural contexts and identify moderating factors to mitigate potential negative intergenerational effects

Improving PMTCT outcomes for mother-infant pairs through community-facility linkage: Results from a mixed methods study in Malawi

To improve MIP care retention in Malawi, several prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) care delivery models have emerged to strengthen community-facility linkage (CFL), a concept defined as any “formalized connection between a health facility and the communities it serves to support improved health outcomes.” Similar to other settings in sub-Saharan Africa, three models have been widely implemented to complement Malawi’s National PMTCT Programme: 1) mentor mothers; 2) expert clients; and 3) community health workers. While the rationale underpinning these models has been substantiated by evidence generated from general antiretroviral therapy and PMTCT programs across SSA, a clear and rigorous description of each model, including characterization of supervisory structures, training, and relationships with clinical services, is currently unavailable. Equally important, the comparative impact of these models and their components on MIP care retention and other health outcomes have not been well characterized, particularly in the era of test and start. In the USAID-funded Project SOAR “Maternal-Infant Retention Study” reported here, we have attempted to address these existing evidence gaps by rigorously characterizing these community-facility linkage models and comparing their impact against each other and the “traditional” standard of care according to routinely collected health outcomes for mother-infant pairs (MIPs), including maternal retention in care and viral suppression, and infant HIV-free survival. To this end, specific objectives of this study were to: (1) establish a clear typology for CFL models by describing the main components of, and patient and key stakeholder perspectives on, three such models in Malawi; (2) describe MIP health outcomes in each model, and compare outcomes across models; and (2a) examine associations between individual components of CFL models and MIP health outcomes, controlling for confounding

Community-facility linkage models and maternal and infant health outcomes in Malawi’s PMTCT/ART program: a cohort study

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, 3 community-facility linkage (CFL) models—Expert Clients, Community Health Workers (CHWs), and Mentor Mothers—have been widely implemented to support pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBFW) living with HIV and their infants to access and sustain care for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT), yet their comparative impact under real-world conditions is poorly understood. Methods and findings: We sought to estimate the effects of CFL models on a primary outcome of maternal loss to follow-up (LTFU), and secondary outcomes of maternal longitudinal viral suppression and infant “poor outcome” (encompassing documented HIV-positive test result, LTFU, or death), in Malawi’s PMTCT/ART program. We sampled 30 of 42 high-volume health facilities (“sites”) in 5 Malawi districts for study inclusion. At each site, we reviewed medical records for all newly HIV-diagnosed PBFW entering the PMTCT program between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017, and, for pregnancies resulting in live births, their HIV-exposed infants, yielding 2,589 potentially eligible mother–infant pairs. Of these, 2,049 (79.1%) had an available HIV treatment record and formed the study cohort. A randomly selected subset of 817 (40.0%) cohort members underwent a field survey, consisting of a questionnaire and HIV biomarker assessment. Survey responses and biomarker results were used to impute CFL model exposure, maternal viral load, and early infant diagnosis (EID) outcomes for those missing these measures to enrich data in the larger cohort. We applied sampling weights in all statistical analyses to account for the differing proportions of facilities sampled by district. Of the 2,049 mother–infant pairs analyzed, 62.2% enrolled in PMTCT at a primary health center, at which time 43.7% of PBFW were ≤24 years old, and 778 (38.0%) received the Expert Client model, 640 (31.2%) the CHW model, 345 (16.8%) the Mentor Mother model, 192 (9.4%) ≥2 models, and 94 (4.6%) no model. Maternal LTFU varied by model, with LTFU being more likely among Mentor Mother model recipients (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]: 1.45; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14, 1.84; p = 0.003) than Expert Client recipients. Over 2 years from HIV diagnosis, PBFW supported by CHWs spent 14.3% (95% CI: 2.6%, 26.1%; p = 0.02) more days in an optimal state of antiretroviral therapy (ART) retention with viral suppression than women supported by Expert Clients. Infants receiving the Mentor Mother model (aHR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.52; p = 0.04) and ≥2 models (aHR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.20, 1.74; p < 0.001) were more likely to undergo EID testing by age 6 months than infants supported by Expert Clients. Infants receiving the CHW and Mentor Mother models were 1.15 (95% CI: 0.80, 1.67; p = 0.44) and 0.84 (95% CI: 0.50, 1.42; p = 0.51) times as likely, respectively, to experience a poor outcome by 1 year than those supported by Expert Clients, but not significantly so. Study limitations include possible residual confounding, which may lead to inaccurate conclusions about the impacts of CFL models, uncertain generalizability of findings to other settings, and missing infant medical record data that limited the precision of infant outcome measurement. Conclusions: In this descriptive study, we observed widespread reach of CFL models in Malawi, with favorable maternal outcomes in the CHW model and greater infant EID testing uptake in the Mentor Mother model. Our findings point to important differences in maternal and infant HIV outcomes by CFL model along the PMTCT continuum and suggest future opportunities to identify key features of CFL models driving these outcome differences

Maternal adverse childhood experiences on child growth and development in rural Pakistan: An observational cohort study.

Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have significant impacts on the next generation with links to negative birth outcomes, impaired cognitive development, and increased socioemotional problems in children. However, not all types or levels of adversity are similarly deleterious and research from diverse contexts is needed to better understand why and how intergenerational transmission of adversity occurs. We examined the role of maternal ACEs on children's growth, cognitive, and socioemotional development at 36 months postpartum in rural Pakistan. We used data from 877 mother-child dyads in the Bachpan Cohort, a birth cohort study. Maternal ACEs were captured using an adapted version of the ACE-International Questionnaire. Outcomes at 36 months of age included child growth using the WHO growth z-scores, fine motor and receptive language development assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, and socioemotional and behavioral development measured with the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Socioemotional and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. To estimate the associations between maternal ACEs and child outcomes, we used multivariable generalized linear models with inverse probability weights to account for sampling and loss to follow-up. Over half of mothers in our sample (58%) experienced at least one ACE. Emotional abuse, physical abuse, and emotional neglect were the most commonly reported ACEs. We found null relationships between the number of maternal ACEs and child growth. Maternal ACEs were associated with higher fine motor and receptive language development and worse socioemotional and behavioral outcomes. Maternal ACE domains had similarly varying relationships with child outcomes. Our findings highlight the complexity of intergenerational associations between maternal ACEs and children's growth and development. Further work is necessary to examine these relationships across cultural contexts and identify moderating factors to mitigate potential negative intergenerational effects