A new nonprofit is looking at ways to improve maternal health in the Natural State. Arkansas consistently ranks toward the bottom nationally for maternal health outcomes, including mortality.
Dr. Nirvana Manning, chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and executive director of the Arkansas Center for Women and Infants Health, says looking at social determinants of health is crucial to understanding the problem.
“Things like income, education, transportation, and housing also play a huge role in the maternal health care crisis,” she says. “These factors affect not only access to health care, but also women’s ability to stay healthy during and after pregnancy. These challenges disproportionately affect women of color and those in underserved areas, compounding this problem even further.”
Dr. Manning says her group has started giving out free kits to new mothers, filled with diapers, formula, and other common supplies. They also distribute “I Gave Birth” bracelets to serve as a visual cue for new moms and health care providers.
“A blood pressure of 140 over 90 is not something that most ER doctors would care anything about if a patient shows up with that. But if you’re postpartum, I care. I care a lot about it,” she says. “And so it’s a visual [cue] for not only the patient to take their health seriously, but other health care providers to recognize that that patient may come with different symptoms.”
Manning says the group is also working to educate new moms on symptoms of postpartum complications when they leave the hospital. Nearly 90 percent of all maternal deaths are preventable, with about half occurring in the postpartum period.
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