Dr. Kay Chandler (Provided)
Dr. Kay Chandler, Arkansas’ surgeon general, is focused on improving Arkansas’ dismal maternal health record.
Chandler, an OB-GYN, is on the Strategic Committee on Maternal Health that Gov. Sarah Sanders created in March to offer ways to enhance the state of maternal health in Arkansas, which usually sits at or near the bottom of national rankings.
“So our main goals are really to look at all the problems that we think are contributing to this high maternal mortality, and work on ways to improve,” she said during a recent phone interview with Arkansas Business. “There are many.”
The committee met more than 20 times and submitted its report to Sanders last month. Committee members received suggestions from more than 150 stakeholders, including hospital and nonprofit officials interested in improving maternal health in Arkansas, she said.
One of the targets of the committee’s plan is making sure the women receive prenatal care. There are about 1,000 women in Arkansas annually who don’t receive prenatal care until they arrive at the hospital to deliver their babies. “So that kind of missed a window of trying to make sure you’re in your best health and have a healthy pregnancy,” Chandler said.
Help is coming from the Arkansas Department of Health. Since May, it has added prenatal care in four health units and is scheduled to add four more by the end of the year. It has prenatal care in 56 of 92 its local health units.
The committee also wants to provide wider access for women for the delivery of their babies. “About 35 of our [75] counties are considered maternal care deserts, where there’s nobody delivering babies in that county,” she said. “So that’s one of our concerns.”
The committee also would like to increase the number of family doctors who provide obstetric care. “There’s a family doctor in most communities, but there’s not always an obstetrician,” she said.
The committee also has been in talks with hospitals and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to increase the number of obstetrics residencies in Arkansas. “The evidence shows that when people do their residency in the state, they’re more likely to stay in the state,” she said.
Other recommendations include providing Medicaid reimbursements for community health workers and doula services. Doulas provide nonclinical, emotional, physical and informational support to women during pregnancy and throughout the postpartum period. “And that’s huge,” Chandler said, describing the support that doulas provide.
The committee also recommended an ad campaign that would include having a website featuring information on a variety of topics, from prenatal care to mental health to breastfeeding.
Committee members are still evaluating what legislation might be needed in the upcoming session as a result of the recommendations in its report, called Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies.
Chandler, who became the state’s surgeon general last year, encourages women who don’t have a primary care doctor to establish care with one before they get pregnant.
Or if they don’t want to get pregnant, the doctor can provide contraceptive options.
Being healthy before becoming pregnant will make “a huge difference” during the pregnancy, she said. “As the surgeon general, I would say, let’s focus on health,” she said. It is “our greatest and most precious asset that we could ever have.”
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