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 mothers who gave birth in Northwest Arkansas — defined as Benton, Carroll, Madison, and Washington counties — between Jan. 1, 2019, and June 30, 2022. 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 follow-up behavioral health visit within 120 days of an emergency room visit.
• 60% of postpartum mothers had no 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.