LITTLE ROCK – The timing could not have been better for the good news Arkansas just received.
A $17 million federal grant to improve maternal health care was formally announced a few days before the beginning of the 2025 legislative session.
Improving maternal health care is high on the legislature’s list of priorities for the session, which convenes on Monday, January 13. There is no definite ending date. However, based on the length of recent legislative sessions it will probably last until April.
The governor appointed a Strategic Committee for Maternal Health last year and one of its recommendations was to pursue the federal grant. As the governor said, “healthy moms means healthy babies.”
The grant will be implemented by the state Human Services Department, whose secretary said that it would help transform how Arkansas approaches maternal health. The department will lead the project, and will be joined by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
According to the grant application, the rate of maternal mortality in Arkansas is the highest in the country and double the national average. On average, the health of newborn infants is “considerably worse than the rest of the U.S.” when premature births, infant deaths and low birthweight babies are counted.
There are several reasons for the state’s low ranking, according to the grant application. Arkansas is rural and there are many areas where obstetrician and delivery services are not easily available. Of the 75 counties in Arkansas, 73 are classified as fully or partially under-served, and 45 counties are classified as maternal care deserts due to their lack of hospitals that offer obstetrical services. Arkansas is a poor state and Medicaid pays for 58 percentage of births.
Some of the grant money will go toward educating providers, such as physicians and health clinics, about the potential benefits of working with doulas, midwives and community health workers.
Arkansas currently has only 33 licensed midwives, so some of the grant money will be used to address that shortage. For example, UAMS is developing a new master’s program for registered nurses to become certified nurse midwives.
Another goal is to create new categories in Medicaid so that doulas and community health workers can be reimbursed for helping with pregnancies and deliveries.
Another suggested change to Medicaid policy is described as “presumptive eligibility.” That means state officials would presume that a pregnant woman is eligible for Medicaid once she becomes pregnant, so that she is not discouraged from getting pre-natal because she feels that she could not afford it.
Some of the money will pay for new technology that will be used specifically to help pregnant women obtain better access to health care.
Some of the funding will pay for an effort to redesign the Medicaid reimbursement system. This effort will create incentives for providers whose patients have healthier outcomes.
In 2023 the legislature approved Act 316 that directs physicians and providers to screen new mothers for depression or other mental health issues, within six weeks of giving birth. Some of the grant funding will go toward improving and expanding those mental health screenings.
