LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Arkansas leaders met with the state’s medical leaders Wednesday at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) to discuss maternal health care.
The Arkansas Maternal Mortality Review Board found that 92% of maternal deaths from 2018 to 2020 were “likely to be preventable,” according to a study by the Arkansas Department of Health.
The study also showed that while pregnancy-related deaths can occur in women of any race, black women and women over 35 experienced the greatest impact.
The roundtable’s medical panelists discussed how health care professionals can work together as a network to help women, how pediatricians can help mothers get the care they need, and how to help mothers get the care they need before and after birth. He has lectured on a myriad of issues, including other issues that impact care.
Dr. Lanita White, CEO of the Community Health Center of Arkansas, said there are many unique challenges that affect women in rural areas, including transportation issues.
“There may be a clinic nearby, but it may not be within walking distance,” White said. “If I didn’t have transportation, but… [they] You have to wait for family or friends to bring you. [and] It creates barriers. ”
White also pointed out that there is a social stigma that pregnant women can experience.
“People don’t want to go to the doctor because they don’t want to be judged,” White says. “Especially for young women and teenagers, they don’t want to show they’re pregnant to the doctor or even ask for contraception because they’re afraid they might be pregnant.”
White also said there needs to be a centralized system for sharing information with women, noting that women also need to advocate for themselves.
“Women can definitely give birth safely in this state. They can live and their babies can live,” White said. “But we want them to be involved and we want them to be their biggest advocate. There’s nothing wrong with advocating for yourself.”
UAMS gynecologist William (Sam) Greenfield, M.D., Ph.D., serves on the Arkansas Maternal Mortality Review Commission and believes the state has many high-quality hospitals and maternal mortality rates are optimal for all patients. He pointed out that this reflects the loss of opportunities to provide quality care.
“Maternal mortality rates represent the deaths of mothers within the first year of pregnancy,” Greenfield said. “There are so many other maternal morbidities that we have to worry about, where the mother may not have lost her life, but there may have been a complication or something that happened that left her scarred after birth. there is.”
Greenfield emphasized that more efforts are needed to provide education about the resources available to women across the state.
“For example, knowing that community health centers can provide care in certain areas where people don’t know their health care providers,” Greenfield said. “Local health departments are providing obstetric care in specific areas that patients may not be aware of and increasing awareness of the opportunity for WIC to provide nutritional support not only to mothers but also to newborns.”
Watch the full text of the meeting below.
National leaders who participated in the panel discussion:
- Senator John Boozman
- Governor Sarah Sanders
- Congressman French Hill
Healthcare leaders who participated in the panel discussion:
- Jodianne Tritt, Arkansas Hospital Association (Moderator)
- Dr. Nirvana Manning, Director of Women’s Health Services, UAMS President and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Arkansas Maternal Mortality Review Commission (AMMRC)
- Dr. Lanita S. White, CEO, Arkansas Community Health Center
- Dr. Sharmila Makhija, Founding Dean and CEO of the Alice L. Walton College of Medicine
- Dr. William (Sam) Greenfield, Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Arkansas Department of Health; AMMR
