Dr. Advocate

Everyone has the right to survive and thrive! Most pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Racial and ethnic disparities in pregnancy-related deaths have persisted over time. Dr. Advocate is committed to solving the disparities in our minority communities suffering from maternal and infant mortality. Through technology the mother will be able to connect with an advocate who can be their voice of reason when they receive subpar care within a healthcare system. Having an advocate will tremendously reduce the numbers that we see globally due to maternal and infant mortality. The mission is to bring awareness to the disparities, ultimately preventing pregnancy-related deaths in our minority communities. We want our community of mothers and infants to be assured that with Dr. Advocate they will survive and thrive!    

According to the World Health Organization the global maternal mortality ratio is 211 deaths per 100,000 live births. Moreover, there are over 800 women dying each day from complications in pregnancy and childbirth. And for every woman who dies, approximately 20 others suffer serious injuries, infections, or disabilities. We also have the infant disparities, 4.0 million (75% of all under-five deaths) occurred within the first year of life. To be specific, the estimated rate of 65 deaths per 1000 live births. Those who are most impacted live in underprivileged communities, and less likely to have access to proper healthcare. Every human should have the right to survive and thrive, adequate healthcare should not be a privilege, it should be a right! Dr. Advocate wants to make a global impact by advocating for mothers and their infants when they are slighted in the healthcare system. We are committed to bringing awareness and global improvements to maternal and infant mortality.  

Dr. Advocate is an application that allows the mother to connect to an advocate. The advocate will be a compassionate, professional and experienced healthcare worker who has interest in both the mothers and infants health. When the mother feels neglected, receives subpar care or feels fearful that her life or infants life is at risk she will have the access to connect with an advocate. The advocate will intervene and advocate for the patient, holding the healthcare system accountable and responsible for a safe and health pregnancy, delivery and a thriving infant. We will be able to track and trend through the application as well, providing the capabilities on the decrease in deaths. The data will provide the visibility that is needed to see where the problems are and why they are occurring. 

The population this solution will solve is our mothers and infant, however, the target population is our minority community. We want to have ongoing conversations with our undeserved and minority communities to better understand the disparities and the trends. We want to listen to what our mothers are saying and even those family members who have suffered the loss of their loved ones, whether it was the mother or infant. We want to hear what did not go right, what went right and how we can continue to improve this. As we previously said, everyone deserves to survive and thrive and Dr. Advocate is ready to make an impact by advocating and reducing the deaths in our population, eventually eliminating all pregnancy related deaths. 

Dr. Advocate believes that every woman, new mother, and newborn should have the access to the care they need to survive and thrive. Our purpose seamlessly aligns with the challenge we selected to solve. To be specific, our target population is women and infants who do not receive the proper access to healthcare. We are here to serve, protect and advocate for our community of mothers and infants, assuring that they will survive and thrive! 

This is an innovative approach, that we are committed to. What makes our solution unique is that the mother will have a professional by her side who is a champion of advocacy. She will feel valued, important, and safe knowing that she has someone advocating for her health, pregnancy and infant. She will no longer feel fearful or feel devalued because of her status in a specific demographic. Having an advocate will provide a sense of security and togetherness, as no mother she be left behind. Motherhood is a beautiful conception and women should have the right to a safe and healthy pregnancy and delivery. Dr. Advocate, in short will be a "buddy system" for our community of mothers and infants. This application will hold the healthcare system accountable for any injustices they may knowingly or unknowing have within their policies and procedures. 

We are still in the idea phase, however we are working with a software developer on ideas. Subsequently, we envision a mobile application. 

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The goal within the next five years is to continue to build upon our business model based on the needs of our communities and to continue to reduce the number of pregnancy related deaths. We are currently in a social enterprise accelerator program in Columbus Ohio who is assisting us with this venture. 

We are currently in a social enterprise accelerator program in Columbus Ohio who is assisting us with this venture. We hope to gain the knowledge, tools and resources that Dr. Advocate needs to be successful. 

There are two. Co-Founders Tiffany Cherry & Monica Coleman