Arkansas postpartum health initiative seeks participants among state’s birthing hospitals

A network of Arkansas maternal health experts and advocates is encouraging birthing hospitals throughout the state to participate in a postpartum health initiative.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences highlighted the Arkansas Perinatal Quality Collaborative’s “Postpartum Comprehensive Assessment, Resources and Education (CARE)” program in a Thursday news release. The collaborative’s cofounders are Dr. William “Sam” Greenfield, a UAMS obstetrics and gynecology professor, and Jennifer Callaghan-Koru, a UAMS public health professor.

The CARE project “will support birthing hospitals to improve education and screenings for women before they are discharged from the hospital after birth,” UAMS’ news release states.

Arkansas has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation and the third-highest infant mortality rate, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. Maternal mortality is measured by the rate at which women die during childbirth or within a year of giving birth.

“By proactively addressing the postpartum health needs of new moms, we can prevent deaths and hospital readmissions,” Greenfield said in the news release.

Participating hospitals will receive “free staff training, clinical tools and presentations from national experts” to improve their postnatal care capacity, the release states.

The CARE initiative will “strengthen follow-up care, better screen and support new moms’ physical and mental health, and build the community connections that make recovery safer and more sustainable for families,” Michelle Pimentel, director of nursing for women’s and infant’s health at Conway Regional Medical Center, said in the news release.