Race/Ethnicity Alignment of Mothers and Delivering Providers in Arkansas

Addressing Arkansas’s maternal health crisis requires having clear information about each step of the birthing journey. This infographic focuses on one component of that journey by examining the alignment of race and ethnicity between mothers and delivering providers in Arkansas, along with other demographics of delivering providers in Arkansas.

Studies have found that alignment of race and ethnicity is associated with improved provider-patient communications in primary care settings and increased preventive healthcare utilization. Striving for cultural competency and team diversity is critical to adequately care for an evolving and diverse patient population.

ACHI analyzed birth records and medical licensure records to look at the percentages of Arkansas mothers who delivered with providers of the same race or ethnicity in 2022.

Key findings:

• 91.1% of White mothers, 11% of Black mothers, 3.8% of Hispanic mothers, and 3.4% of Asian mothers delivered with a provider of the same race/ethnicity.
• No Pacific Islander or American Indian/Alaska Native mothers delivered with providers of the same race/ethnicity.
• Of the delivering providers for whom demographic information was available, 146 were male and 107 were female.
• Among delivering providers under age 50, 53 were male and 107 were female.
• Of the delivering providers for whom demographic information was available, 87.9% were White, 5.7% were Black, 3.9% were Asian, 1.8% were Hispanic, and 0.7% (two providers) were American Indian/Alaskan Native.

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

References

¹Street RL Jr, O’Malley KJ, Cooper LA, Haidet P. Understanding concordance in patient-physician relationships: personal and ethnic dimensions of shared identity. Ann Fam Med. 2008 May-Jun;6(3):198-205. doi: 10.1370/afm.821. PMID: 18474881; PMCID: PMC2384992.

²Ma A, Campbell J, Sanchez A, Sumner S, Ma M. Racial concordance on healthcare use within Hispanic population subgroups. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2023 Jul 21. doi: 10.1007/s40615-023-01700-8. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37479955.

³Robles-Fradet, A. & Greenwald, M. Doula care improves health outcomes, reduces racial disparities and cuts cost. National Health Law Program. August 8, 2022. https://healthlaw.org/doula-care-improves-health-outcomes-reduces-racial-disparities-and-cuts-cost/