In 1985, the Division of Maternal and Child Health of the U.S. Public Health Service funded a major working conference entitled "Public Health Social Work in Maternal and Child Health: A Forward Plan." Curriculum recommendations for schools of social work were made, including a recommendation for the integration of health and mental health content in the education of social workers within a public health conceptual framework. In 1986, the National Institute of Mental Health funded a three-year program to develop and evaluate a research-based prevention training curriculum for dissemination to schools of social work and other primary care professional schools. This article examines the Michigan Prevention Training and Curriculum Development Project from the perspective of the recommendations of the Public Health Social Work Forward Plan.
The authors studied maternal mortality in Chicago and Detroit from 1979 through 1984. The death rates for black women were more than four times the national rate for white women. Many of the conditions causing death were preventable. Since the general condition of the mother prior to pregnancy is a major influence on pregnancy outcome, accessible and high-quality prenatal care is a necessary but not sufficient preventive measure. If black maternal mortality is to be prevented, attention must be directed to the protection and promotion of black women's physical, mental and social well-being, and not just to their reproductive health.
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