Building Opportunities for Nurturing Care to Enhance Child Development in Eastern and Southern Africa

Child Growth, Neurodevelopment

Nurturing Care Framework, CHEU, CHU, Neurodevelopment, Malawi Developmental Assessment Tool, HIV, vocabulary acquisition, functional difficulties, Breastfeeding duration, Breastfeeding initiation, Maternal mental health, stunting, wasting, underweight

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to adapt and test a package of interventions to provide nurturing care for children aged 0-2 years in three countries (Botswana, Kenya, Zimbabwe). Mothers living with and without HIV will be enrolled in pregnancy, and their children will be followed for two years. The main objectives of this study are to: * Determine whether the adapted package of interventions improves neurodevelopment among children with and without in utero HIV exposure * Identify why the intervention does or does not impact children's neurodevelopment. Researchers will compare children who receive the intervention package and those who do not to see if the interventions improve child neurodevelopment and growth. Researchers will also compare children with and without HIV exposure to see if there are improvements in neurodevelopment and growth for children who were exposed to HIV. All participants will attend regular prenatal and postnatal care appointments. Participants who are randomized to receive the package of interventions will attend regularly scheduled visits where they will discuss problem-solving strategies, receive information on healthy foods for children, and learn about how to play with their children. Mothers receiving the intervention package will also have the opportunity to meet with other mothers and babies in small groups where their children can play together.

Prior to enrollment for the clinical trial, the three interventions will be culturally adapted and refined in Botswana and Kenya using a user-centered co-design approach. A 3-day participatory workshop will be held to select appropriate adaptations to the three interventions while maintaining core components. Following these adaptations, \ 80 pregnant women/mother-infant pairs will be recruited for a formative pilot to further refine the three interventions. The workshop and pilot activities have already been completed in Zimbabwe under a different protocol. Following the clinical trial, we will determine how the package of interventions works (or if it does not work, why) to improve child development. Hypothesized causal biological and behavioral pathways include maternal health, including mental health; infant health and nutrition; caregiving quality; and maternal-child interactions. Throughout the clinical trial, both quantitative and qualitative data will be collected to identify determinants of implementation, acceptability, feasibility, appropriateness, and cost of incorporating the intervention package and neurodevelopmental evaluations into regular maternal and child health services across the three countries. Costing data will also be collected from time and motion cards and study budget records to determine the incremental costs of incorporating the intervention package and neurodevelopmental evaluations in the three participating countries.

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