Growing Women's & Children's Services to Improve Maternal and Infant Health

Women’s & Children’s Services to Improve Maternal and Infant Health

Arkansas has the highest maternal mortality rate in the country, and the state has the third-highest infant mortality rate. Arkansas experiences 45 pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 births thanks in part to the state’s high incidence of chronic disease, rural areas without adequate health care services, and high rates of poverty.

But an estimated 90% of those deaths are preventable –– and Baptist Health is doing something about it.

Women’s & Children’s Services has always been an important part of Baptist Health’s healing ministry, and this year provided an opportunity to evaluate ways to improve the state’s rankings in these critical areas of health care.

Throughout 2023, Baptist Health has been hard at work implementing a strategic plan for Women’s & Children’s Services that analyzed new locations for care, explored strategies for physician integration, and developed targeted tactics to reach more people.

The project started early in the year with a completion of a structural analysis on Women’s & Children’s Services that included a look at physician manpower and integration, an assessment of consumer and community needs, and a prioritization analysis.

One key initiative in development is to expand Baptist Health’s reach by utilizing the Mobile Health Unit to provide mid-level OB care to high-risk mothers in the top five highrisk areas of Arkansas.

The initial goal is to target and serve 500 new pregnant women in Sebastian, Drew, Phillips, Arkansas, and St. Francis counties –– counties identified as having the highest number of high-risk pregnancies –– to impact and improve maternal and infant mortality. But in the long-term, Baptist Health hopes to go from reaching hundreds of women to thousands.

Plans to boost the Baptist Health pregnancy wellness centers in Little Rock and North Little Rock have also been developed to maximize the services these centers offer, which include free pregnancy testing, health screenings for mothers, newborn assessments, breastfeeding assessments, car seat installation, CPR classes, and Medicaid referral letters.

Many pregnant women seek out a Baptist Health pregnancy wellness center when they have nowhere else to turn and are desperate to find resources to help with their pregnancy and newborn. Often, they are uninsured and have no doctor when they arrive.

Baptist Health’s pregnancy wellness centers provide free education on healthy pregnancy, preparing for childbirth, stages of labor, recovery and postpartum care, newborn care, developmental milestones, and childhood nutrition.

As part of this Women’s & Children’s initiative, Baptist Health’s new ARHOME (Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me) program, which was in the very early stages of its launch in late 2023, will have a focus on women with highrisk pregnancies, new mothers, and babies as part of its services aimed at improving the lives of at-risk populations.

Baptist Health ARHOME plans to extend care into the homes of the mothers to develop a more intimate relationship and then follow the moms and track data until the children reach 2 years old.

The team working on this initiative has also developed a Maternal Navigator concept for patient communication and monitoring, and a $200,000 grant application has been submitted to support the program.

The team is also in the process of implementing a program for laborists, which is the OB/GYN version of hospitalists, for the Baptist Health Western and Central regions into 2024 and continues concentrated recruitment efforts for new providers including OB/GYNs and nurse midwives.

This project is all about reaching out to people in need and earning their trust in the health care system. This is a key project in improving access to maternal and prenatal care, and Baptist Health will be on a mission in the coming years to make a difference in the state’s health ranking.

New Brand Campaign Focuses on Theme of ‘FOR YOU. FOR LIFE.’

The health care industry has changed significantly in the last several years, and so has Baptist Health.

“Keep On Amazing” and “All Our Best” have served as enduring themes for Baptist Health during the last two decades both externally through marketing campaigns and internally in employee communications, but late 2023 ushered in a new era in brand messaging with the launch of a new marketing campaign.

The newest brand campaign follows in the footsteps of those previous taglines to capitalize on a new theme introduced with Baptist Health’s women’s campaign earlier this year –– “For You. For Life.”

The goal of the new “For You. For Life.” campaign is to drive Arkansans to connect emotionally with the values of Baptist Health and invite us to be a part of enabling their life story.

The focus of the campaign includes holistic health care, personalized care, and culturally relevant and empathetic messaging.

Health and wellness have steadily become more of a priority among health care consumers in recent years, and Arkansans are looking to Baptist Health now more than ever to provide individualized, whole-person health care for every stage of life.

A person’s health is a part of their unique identity –– and the care is private and personalized to their specific needs.

Life isn’t just about living –– it’s about living well. And Baptist Health wants to be there through every step of life’s journey.

“For You. For Life.” speaks to the purpose of health care and reminds us who Baptist Health is serving and the partnership with all those who seek our care for themselves and their family members.

Since the new campaign is centered around patients, the new television commercials, print and social media ads, and other messaging feature actual Baptist Health patients and their stories of how Baptist Health contributed to an important life moment.

The commitment to personalized care and wellness is embodied through the song “Living My Best Life” –– which is used in the new Baptist Health commercials –– by nationally renowned singer/ songwriter Ben Rector.

Rector’s upbeat and relatable music has attracted a loyal fan base, especially among millennials and Gen Zers. An avid Razorback fan and UA graduate, Rector maintains a close connection to Arkansas, presenting Baptist Health with the opportunity to tap into this fan base.

Did You Know?

Through October, there were 44 new health care providers added to the Baptist Health system during 2023!