Creating Culturally Competent Perinatal Spaces for African American and Latina Women to Address Mental Health Challenges Resulting from Birth Trauma

Authors

  • LaCresha Cunningham Clark Atlanta University

Keywords:

mood disorders, pregnancy-related mortality, morbidity, patient-designed interventions, cultural competence

Abstract

The need for more research and implementation of risk prevention interventions in perinatal mental health is immediate. More research is needed to fill the gaps and shift medical care for African American and Latina women. As one of the most developed countries in the world, the United States must develop a protocol to directly address the disparities that women of color face within the current medical system. This protocol starts with policy changes reinforcing a woman’s inalienable right to autonomy over her body, implementing a community-based health model, developing more patient-designed interventions, instituting freedom of cultural practices, and eliminating structurally racist systems.

Author Biography

LaCresha Cunningham, Clark Atlanta University

LaCresha Cunningham, MSW, PhD Candidate, LCSW (she/her) is Adjunct Faculty, Whitney M. Young Jr. School of Social Work, Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA (lcunni@healingsacredscars.com, @healingsacredscars).

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Published

2025-09-29

How to Cite

Cunningham, L. (2025). Creating Culturally Competent Perinatal Spaces for African American and Latina Women to Address Mental Health Challenges Resulting from Birth Trauma. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 31(3), 44–49. Retrieved from https://reflectionsnarrativesofprofessionalhelping.org/index.php/Reflections/article/view/2106

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