Maternal Behavioral Health Events During the Birthing Journey in Northwest Arkansas

Addressing perinatal behavioral health is crucial for ensuring the well-being of new mothers. Perinatal behavioral health events impact both mothers and their families during a critical time in their lives. This infographic, part of our continuing effort to examine each step of the birthing journey in Arkansas, looks at behavioral health events — including outpatient visits, emergency room visits, and inpatient stays — among new Arkansas moms in Northwest Arkansas.

ACHI examined behavioral health events in the prenatal and postpartum periods among 14,400 Northwest Arkansas mothers who gave birth between Jan. 1, 2019, and June 30, 2022, with Northwest Arkansas defined as Benton, Carroll, Madison, and Washington counties. We also looked at the timing of postpartum mothers’ follow-up visits within 120 days of either an emergency room visit or inpatient stay for a behavioral health event.

Key findings:

• Behavioral health events were more likely to occur in the postpartum period compared to the prenatal period.
• Postpartum mothers consistently had lower follow-up visit rates after an emergency room visit or an inpatient stay compared to all women ages 18-44 in Northwest Arkansas.
• 61% of postpartum mothers had no outpatient follow-up behavioral health visit within 120 days of an emergency room visit.
• 60% of postpartum mothers had no outpatient follow-up behavioral health visit within 120 days of an inpatient stay.

See more information about maternal and infant health in Arkansas on our topic page.