Building Social Networks to Enhance Postpartum Weight Loss and Appropriate Infant Feeding Practices

The purpose of this study is to examine whether we can use social networks to spread health information and health behaviors that 1) support women in returning to their pre-pregnancy weight after delivery; and 2) promote healthy infant feeding practices.

The long-term goal of this research is to prevent obesity-related adverse health outcomes for future generations by applying information emerging from social network studies to the development of new population-based behavioral interventions. There are a number of critical periods during fetal and infant development that appear to influence the later development of obesity. Interventions that prevent insult to these critical windows from occurring could improve children's life course trajectories. This project sets the groundwork for examining whether social networks could explicitly be utilized to prevent obesity from developing by transmitting health information and health behaviors that 1) prevent postpartum weight retention in first time mothers and 2) promote appropriate infant feeding practices. The secondary aim is to assess which individual-level network-related characteristics best predict postpartum body composition and infant feeding practices.

Healthy lifestyle intervention focused on building reciprocal social ties between the intervention group members

Group support and health education sessions weekly during third trimester and once every two weeks until 6 months postpartum

Three home visits during third trimester and three during postpartum period until 6 months postpartum

duration of breastfeeding, use of supplemental fluids, overfeeding, timing of the introduction of solids

Inclusion Criteria: Latina (self-defined, or born in Central or South America) Spanish-speaking and/or English-speaking, 18 years of age or older less than 24 weeks pregnant did or did not have a termination of a previous pregnancy before 20 weeks has not carried a pregnancy to term normal, overweight or obese (pre-pregnancy BMI >18.5 and <39) Exclusion Criteria: non-Latina, non-Spanish-speaking or non-English speaking less than 18 years of age more than 24 weeks pregnant had a termination of a previous pregnancy after 20 weeks multiparous underweight (pre-pregnancy BMI < 18.5) morbidly obese (pre-pregnancy BMI ≥ 39) currently enrolled in another program that targets weight, physical activity, or nutrition