Intervention
TB
The South African Dept. of Health employs CHWs as salaried, monthly workers with a minimum wage of R21.91 per hour. Each government CHWs was assigned to a specific clinic and the pregnant women living within the specific geographic area served by the clinic. Prior to the study, CHWs had previously received 10 days of in-service orientation and training by government supervisors when reassigned from clinic to community service. An additional month-long training was conducted by the Philani Mentor Mother Program prior to the clinic randomization, with trainers shadowing the CHWs during a 2-week period immediately afterwards on their early home visits to ensure good practice. CHWs provided consent to collect data on their sociodemographic characteristics.All CHWs were trained to provide general information about the key perinatal health challenges: living with HIV, TB, reproductive health, danger signs during pregnancy, typical taught a process for engaging with the mothers—how to enter a house and bond with a mother, how to interview a mother, introduce oneself and one’s role, basic counseling skills, as well as how to monitor maternal and child status. This included growth monitoring, oral hydration, recognizing a child’s breathing problems, teaching the principles of good hygiene, and recording visits. After this training, the ongoing supervision and monitoring of home visits varied across conditions, as summarized in 