Minding the Baby® Home Visiting (MTB-HV)
Last updated: 2014
In brief
Evidence of model effectiveness
This model meets the criteria established by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for an “evidence-based early childhood home visiting service delivery model” for the general population, but does not meet the criteria for tribal populations.
Model description
Minding the Baby® Home Visiting is designed for young first-time parents living in low-income settings. The model aims to bridge primary care and mental health services for infants by pairing a nurse with a mental health professional to conduct home visits. The home visitors meet with families separately on an alternating schedule, beginning in the second or early third trimester of pregnancy and continuing until the child’s second birthday. Visits take place weekly until the child’s first birthday, then transition to every other week. The home visitors also work closely with the mothers’ prenatal and pediatric clinicians, who may be based in a partnering community health center. The model aims to promote secure attachment; parental reflection (in which parents reflect on their children’s thoughts and feelings and their own development as a parent); and physical and mental health in babies, mothers, and their families. For more information, please read the Model Overview.
Extent of evidence
For more information, please see the research database. For more information on the criteria used to rate research, please see details of HomVEE’s methods and standards.
Criteria established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Notes: If the model does not meet criterion 3 but meets criteria 1 and 2 based on findings from subgroups, the impacts must be replicated in the same domain in two or more studies using non-overlapping analytic study samples. HomVEE assesses and reports criteria 4 and 5 for all models that have well-designed research, but meeting those two criteria is only required of models for which all findings are from randomized controlled trials. Please read the HHS criteria for evidence-based models for more information.