LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On Wednesday morning, the conversation over maternal health in Arkansas took center stage as state leaders and medical professionals joined together for a roundtable discussion.

During the two-hour discussion, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Senator John Boozman, Congressman French Hill, and local doctors talked about how Arkansas needs more physicians and higher reimbursement rates to keep them here.

“This is something that we can solve. We can do better than we are and frankly, we have to,” Governor Sanders said.

While there is a lot they want to improve, it’s not an overnight fix. However, they did say it was a step in the right direction.

“Healthcare is really hard to navigate,” said Dr. Nirvana Manning with UAMS.

Due to its challenges, Dr. Manning said they need to figure out a way to support mothers for the longer term.

“The mom is the unit. And when she’s falling apart, everything kind of falls apart. So we really need to figure [it out]. We need to assess ways that we can wrap around that mom,” she added.

The Governor said that already exists but there’s room for improvement.

“We already provide that. We just do a really terrible job of actually transitioning people after that 60 day period. And that’s something that I think could make a big, big difference,” Governor Sanders added.

Governor Sanders said having good partnerships with healthcare providers can be the solution as they find those patients and make sure they know what options are available and how to transition their coverage. 

From the state level, she said her team has also been looking at ways to improve reimbursement rates.

“It’s a very complicated process, but the structure of the payment and what that looks like and if there is a better way to do that so that we have more people engaging and more people staying in some of those communities I think could make a real difference, particularly in a state like Arkansas,” the Governor said.

Another topic of discussion was maternal mortality. 

Unfortunately, Dr. William Greenfield with the Department of Health said Arkansas ranks as one of the worst states for it.

“Depending on the sources that you look at, we have been as low as 50 out of 50 states. We’ve been in the low 40s in other rankings. It’s safe to say that we have an opportunity to improve regardless of which source you look at,” Dr. Greenfield said.

He also added that it’s a big part of the conversation that needs to continue. 

“Ultimately, it’s about improving the health and wellness of our families,” Dr. Greenfield said.

He also emphasized the need for mental health and nutrition support for post-partum mothers in rural parts of the state. 

We’ll continue to follow these issues as conversations continue among state leaders.