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Abstract
A trend of increased maternal mortality, both locally and nationally, among Black women has become a significant public health and social justice issue with a notable increase documented in recent years. Doula support programs have been demonstrated as an innovative method of improving maternal child health outcomes for this population. This quality improvement proposal project uses the Social Ecological Model, including individual, interpersonal, community, and societal factors, to design an educational intervention for labor and delivery nurses at an acute care women's hospital. The education will be developed with the aim of increasing labor and delivery nurses' knowledge of the issue of increased maternal mortality among African American women. In addition, the role of doulas in improving maternal outcomes will be highlighted with an emphasis on communication and interprofessional collaboration skills. This quality improvement project will propose that if we educate labor and delivery nurses and the healthcare delivery team about the importance of doula support, there are possibilities of decreased maternal death rate among black women.