First 1,000 days: enough for mothers but not for children? Long-term outcomes of an early intervention on maternal depressed mood and child cognitive development: follow-up of a randomised controlled trial.

In a socio-economically deprived peri-urban settlement in South Africa, a home visiting intervention, delivered by community workers to mothers in pregnancy and the first six postpartum months, had no overall effect on child cognitive development at 13 years of age. However, those caregivers who were part of the original intervention showed lasting improvements in depressed mood. Despite the fact that there was no intervention effect on long-term child outcomes, the improvements in maternal mood are important.