CONWAY, Ark. – A study by the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences and Community Health Centers for Arkansas has been awarded millions to reduce health issues in pregnant women.
It comes as the state is ranked worst for both maternal health and food insecurity and has the third highest infant mortality rate of the United States.
“Arkansas has the highest mortality rate in the nation, we also have high rates of obesity and food insecurity,” UAMS Director of Community Health and Research Pearl McElfish said.
Alarming statistics surround the state of Arkansas regarding prenatal health, but UAMS and Community Health Centers of Arkansas are working to help.
“In the study we will provide healthy foods to women during pregnancy along with education and counseling on gestational weight gain,” McElfish said.
“I think it’s great that all of this money to better help the mortality rate women are facing during pregnancy,” Conway Medical and Wellness APRN Kayla Harrod, who recently gave birth, said.
Harrod said she knows this reality all too well.
“One of my pregnancies was a miscarriage, I went in, and you know, was told there is no heartbeat,” Harrod stated.
However, about three months ago, baby Brooks arrived.
Through this experience with her pregnancy, she knows the importance of food and how it can impact pregnancy.
“You are what you eat,” Harrod said. “Your health and the health of your baby’s health is so impacted on what you are consuming.”
The study will provide women with weight gain counseling and grocery delivery of healthy foods to participants’ homes.
They will be taking candidates for the study over the next couple of months.