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Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8415-5127

Date Available

5-3-2024

Year of Publication

2022

Document Type

Capstone

Degree Name

Doctor of Social Work (DSW)

Faculty

Dr. Laura Escobar-Ratliff

Abstract

Black women die at a disproportionate rate than white women in the United States due to maternal mortality. Black women are three times more likely to die because of a maternal complication than any other demographic. Although the United States has a highly developed healthcare system, it also has the worst maternal mortality rate out of developed nations. The focus of this research is social work practices that can be implemented to improve Black maternal health outcomes.

The systematic literature review focuses on gaps in social work literature related to maternal mortality and health equity, solutions for social workers to aid in reducing the maternal mortality rate, and social work education and advocacy. The conceptual paper is centered around current maternal health solutions and the reproductive justice framework as an informing theoretical framework to conceptualize maternal services from a social lens. The practice application paper is a reimagining of comprehensive maternal health services utilizing a new model, the Maternal Equity Collaborative Model (MECM), that seeks to close the health gap between Black women and other demographics and encompasses collaborative care with social workers central to the work.

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