The report emphasizes maternal health care in rural communities

The United States have higher mothers and child mortality rates than most other advanced economies. A new report by the Center for Quality and Payment Reform in Health Care, in which the state of maternal health care is evaluated in the country's rural communities, shows continuing challenges, also in Arkansas. The report focuses on health risks that mothers in rural communities are exposed to care due to the limited access to care.

Less rural hospitals that offer maternity

According to the report, over 80% of pregnancy -related deaths are avoided with proper prenatal, work and childbirth as well as postpartum care. A major challenge is in rural areas in which many hospitals no longer offer maternity services.

Since 2020, 14% of the work and delivery units have been closed in the hospitals of rural Arkansas, and according to the report, around 28% are currently closed.

Achi's map of birthplaces (above) shows that only 33 hospitals in Arkansas will continue to offer work and delivery services from May 2025. Since 2019, seven hospitals have closed their obstetric units, four of them due to lack of staff and three based on financial considerations.

Financial pressure on rural hospitals

The threat to the maternity of the rural area is part of a wider financial crisis for rural hospitals. Many of these hospitals lose money for other services such as emergency care and basic care, which threatens their ability to remain open, regardless of how well the maternity provision is financed.

In Arkansas, 50.6% of births are paid by private insurance and 41% of Medicaid. Health plans often pay rural hospitals less than the actual costs for the provision of maternity care, may undermine the financial sustainability of maternity units and contribute to the recruitment problems of the workforce.

When maintaining high-quality, safe maternity care, providers must be suitable that women with vaginal deliveries and caesarean section sections can support around the clock. As a report by the Center for Health Quality and Payment Reform, the obstetrician and general practitioners are increasingly unable or not ready to be on call for all hours. In response to this, hospitals have to employ more doctors, change their personnel methods or work with additional doctors to cover the shifts of areas.

Rural hospitals in Arkansas must also be exposed to less births due to rising personnel costs, fewer births due to the emigration of younger people from rural areas of the state and the reimbursement rates for obstetrical care, which are 30% lower than medicar.

This financial pressure is particularly difficult in communities with a higher number of inhabitants with low incomes. Combating this pressure is important to make birth for mothers in Arkansas safer.

Nationwide efforts and initiatives

The law 124 of 2025 is a step to increase access to prenatal, work and childbirth as well as postpartum care for Arkansas mothers. The law determines the alleged medicaid authorization for pregnant women who enable them to maintain Medicaid services and initiate prenatal care while waiting for the approval of their Medicaid applications. Definition of medical insurance for pregnancy-related health surveillance; And exposes Medicaid payments for pregnancy care and enables providers to be visited up to 14 prenatal and postnatal care.

In addition, the Alleal Transforming Mothers program will provide 17 million US dollars with $ 17 million in the next 10 years to support the improvement of health care for mothers. The transforming mothers health model, a full -person approach for pregnancy, birth and postpartum care, aims to reduce the differences in access and treatment, to improve the results and experiences for mothers and their newborns and to reduce the total expenses.