A new podcast series from the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement is exploring maternal and infant health in Arkansas and the efforts happening across the state to improve outcomes for mothers and babies. Ozarks at Large's Fallon Frank has more.
The series follows what organizers call a healthy birthing journey, covering everything from pre-pregnancy health and prenatal care to childbirth, postpartum recovery and early childhood support. Sandra McGrew is the executive director of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, as well as the host of the podcast.
"We ended up with nine points on a healthy birthing journey, and we presented it as an infographic and highlighted the phases of the birthing journey all the way from beginning at pre-pregnancy, that prenatal care through the postpartum period and the well-child visits."
McGrew says the podcast expands on that roadmap by speaking with health care workers, lawmakers and organizations involved in maternal health policy and care.
"We start before pregnancy — pre-pregnancy — both to understand the importance of intentionality and to better understand that healthy moms begin as healthy women. That's really important."
The series also looks at barriers that can prevent women from accessing care early in pregnancy and the support systems available throughout the process.
"We look at the importance of beginning prenatal care as soon as possible and efforts underway to remove those barriers to initiating care. Then we look at some of the education and social support women need."
McGrew says the show also examines childbirth itself, including efforts to improve outcomes for high-risk pregnancies, before turning to postpartum care and mental health.
"In our fourth episode, for example, we actually talk about the delivery of a child and the safest method of delivery and efforts underway to make sure high-risk deliveries have the medical support that they need. Then we explore the role of family support and bonding — from breastfeeding to parental leave policies — as well as the importance of depression screening and how we can support our moms' mental health as well."
The podcast features conversations with physicians, legislators and public health leaders from across Arkansas, including doctors at UAMS, state lawmakers and community health organizations. McGrew says one of the biggest lessons from the series is that maternal health outcomes depend on support long before and long after delivery.
"I think a lot of us assume that the most important work to reverse the maternal mortality statistics takes place in the delivery room, and in reality, the biggest opportunities to improve outcomes for our moms and babies really take place well before and long after the actual delivery of the child."
McGrew says collaboration across health care systems, policymakers and community organizations will be essential moving forward.
"Ultimately, we're all here trying to achieve the same goal, and that is to improve outcomes for our moms and babies. These are our neighbors and sisters and best friends, and they deserve that."
The podcast is available at achi.net/birthing-journey, as well as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Fallon Frank is one of our student reporters this year with Ozarks at Large, focusing on maternal and women's health in Arkansas. Funding for her reporting is supported by the Women's Giving Circle with the University of Arkansas.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
