Madres Para la Salud (Mothers for Health)
Condition: Overweight and Obesity; Depression, Postpartum; Mother (Person)
MeSH terms: Depression, Postpartum; Overweight
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of "Madres Para la Salud" [Mothers for Their Health] is to see how support and
      encouragement can help women to make positive changes in their health. This program tested if
      supportive information, encouragement, and walking as a group would increase physical
      activity and health benefits, such as weight loss and postpartum depression.

      Participants in this study were randomly assigned to one of two groups, a walking or a
      non-walking group. The walking group met weekly. Participants were given a pedometer to
      record the number of steps taken daily.

      Participants met one time each week with our study staff. Participants walked four other days
      per week on their own, or with other group members. Participants measurements included body
      fat, waist, and hip at the beginning of the study, and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. The
      non-walking group received a weekly mailed newsletter about topics such as parenting, infant
      growth and development, and reproductive health. Non-walking group participants' measurements
      included body fat, waist, and hip at the beginning of the study and at 6 and 12 months.
    

Detailed description: 
      Project Summary

      The purpose of "Madres para la Salud" (Mothers for Health) was to explore the effectiveness
      of a culturally specific intervention using walking "bouts" to affect changes in the health
      of Hispanic women following childbirth. The project will advance our understanding of the
      relationship between moderate increases in physical activity and consequent body fat loss and
      decreased postpartum depression symptoms in sedentary Hispanic women during the postpartum
      period. This was accomplished by having a group of women who participated in supportive
      information and walking sessions, both alone and with study personnel, and an attention
      control group who received monthly phone calls to address common postpartum health concerns,
      but who did not participate in the walking program. Both groups received weekly
      health-focused newsletters with no content related to the intervention. The women had a
      random assignment to a group.

      Study Aims

      The purpose of this social support intervention program was to test the theory-driven Madres
      para la Salud with Hispanic women by conducting a formative evaluation of the intervention:

      Aim 1: Examine the effectiveness of the Madres para la Salud, a theoretically driven social
      support intervention for reducing the distal outcomes in: (a) body fat; (b) systemic and fat
      tissue inflammation; and (c) PPD symptoms among postpartum Hispanic women compared with an
      attention control group, at 6 and 12 months, after controlling for dietary intake.

      Aim2: Test whether the theoretical mediators, intermediate outcomes, of social support and
      walking, and environmental factor moderators, affect changes in body fat; systemic and fat
      tissue inflammation; and PPD symptoms among postpartum Hispanic women completing the Madres
      para la Salud intervention compared with an attention control group, at 6 and 12 months,
      after controlling for dietary intake.

      Aim 3: Determine the relationship between the immediate outcome of walking (minutes walked
      per week) and change in the distal outcomes of: (a) body fat; (b) systemic and fat tissue
      inflammation; and (c) PPD symptoms.
    

Intervention name(s): Madres para la Salud
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Participants attended Madres para la Salud sessions in a group, led by a promotora at the Maricopa Medical Center and other community based sites. Sessions consisted of a 30 minute education and social support session where women learned to walk at least 150 minutes a week at a 20 minute-mile pace, and up to 30 minutes of moderate intensity walking with the group. Participants received a pedometer and learned to monitor their walking intensity. Participants set and reviewed weekly walking goals at the group sessions and recorded aerobic steps per day. After the 12 week sessions, participants met with the promotora once a week for 40 weeks of in-group walking at a moderate intensity for 30 minutes, to download and review pedometer data. Data was collected at baseline, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: Hispanic Women; Postpartum; Overweight Hispanic Women; Low-income; Physical Activity; Walking