- In 2024, 1 in 8 babies (12.1% of live births) was born preterm in Arkansas.
- In 2024, 1 in 11 babies (9.5% of live births) was low birthweight in Arkansas.
- In Arkansas in 2023, 290 infants died before reaching their first birthday, an infant mortality rate of 8.2 per 1,000 live births.
- In Arkansas in 2024, 73.6% of infants were born to women receiving adequate/adequate plus prenatal care.
- In Arkansas in 2024, 34.0% of live births were Cesarean deliveries.
- In 2023, about 1 in 8 women of childbearing age (12.4%) was uninsured in Arkansas.
In an average week in Arkansas:
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Data Topics
Use this page to browse the multiple different data sets and indicators that PeriStats offers on maternal and infant health subjects. The data search tool on this page will guide you through the data we continually update.
Maternity Care Desert
Maternity care deserts are counties across the U.S. in which access to maternity care services is limited or absent, either through lack of services or barriers to a woman's ability to access that care within counties. Specifically, a maternity care desert is any county without a hospital or birth center offering obstetric care and without any obstetric clinicians. Obstetric clinicians include obstetricians, family physicians who reported delivering babies, certified nurse midwives and nurse midwives. The three other classifications of maternity care levels include low access, moderate access and full access. Low access to care is defined as counties with one or fewer hospitals or birth centers that provide obstetric care, few obstetric clinicians (fewer than 60 per 10,000 births) or a high proportion of women without health insurance (greater than or equal to 10 percent of reproductive aged women). Moderate access to care is defined as living in a county with access to one or fewer hospitals/birth centers and few obstetric clinicians or adequate health insurance coverage (less than 10 percent of women of reproductive age uninsured). Full access to maternity care can be defined by the availability of two or more hospitals or birth centers providing obstetric care in a given county or availability of at least 60 clinicians offering obstetric care.
- More than 2.3 million women of childbearing age live in maternity care deserts (1,104 counties) that have no hospital offering obstetric care, no birth center and no obstetric clinician.
- More than 150,000 babies were born to birthing people living in maternity care deserts.
- An additional 3.3 million women of childbearing age live in counties with limited access to maternity care.
Access to quality maternity care is a critical component of maternal health and positive birth outcomes, especially in light of the high rates of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity in the U.S. Find the most recent full report here: https://www.marchofdimes.org/research/maternity-care-deserts-report.aspx
Find the most recent state-level reports here: https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/reports/alabama/maternity-care-deserts
Explore the data on this page to better understand maternity care access in your state.
Last updated: April 2025
Reports
State summary reports consist of several different reports that the Perinatal Data Center has created in order to use data to tell a story about maternal and child health in your state. While some individual datapoints will overlap, each report has a different focus. These reports may be useful to use for local policy changes or programs.
Infographic
The March of Dimes Report Card indicates the maternal and infant health crisis is worsening. You can make a difference. Share your state's grade on your social channels, by email or by text and encourage others to take action by advocating for change.