Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies Program - Funding Opportunity Number: HRSA-25-041 Assistance Listing Number(s): 93.912 Applicant Name: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Descriptive Title of Applicant's Project: Helping Expand Access to Rural maternal care Transformation for Moms (HEART Moms) HEART Moms (Helping Expand Access to Rural maternal care Transformation for Moms) is a multi-sector initiative to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality in two rural Arkansas counties in the Mississippi Delta—Ashley and Union—by implementing sustainable, evidence-based maternal health service models. The project addresses urgent gaps in access to obstetric care and perinatal behavioral health in HRSA-designated rural and medically underserved areas marked by hospital service closures, a shortage of trained providers, long travel distances for care, and high rates of chronic conditions that increase pregnancy risks, including hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. HEART Moms will increase access to coordinated maternal health services spanning preconception through postpartum by: • Deploying mobile maternal health clinics rotating across both counties to reduce geographic and transportation barriers; • Launching CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care at partnering rural sites to enhance prenatal education, peer support, and health outcomes; • Embedding a full-time Obstetrics Fellow in the rural targeted area to provide direct care, support mobile outreach, and support rural providers; • Standardizing maternal risk screening for hypertension, diabetes, and behavioral health, and integrating follow-up referral protocols to home visiting, mental health care, and high-risk obstetric consults via established specialist telemedicine services; • Expanding telehealth access and building capacity for local obstetric emergency preparedness and maternal mental health treatment; • Training community health workers and mental health therapists in specialized perinatal competencies to provide culturally responsive outreach, Social Determinants of Health screening, benefit navigation, and patient education; and • Establishing a sustainable, regionally coordinated maternal health network with robust governance, referral infrastructure, and Medicaid-aligned payment strategies. The HEART Moms network was shaped by Arkansas Medicaid’s and the Arkansas Department of Health’s priorities to provide maternal support to Ashley and Union Counties. Input from Arkansas Medicaid and Network Partners helped create this proposal. The HEART Moms Network includes UAMS (a Level III-B birthing center and Arkansas’s only academic medical center), South Arkansas Women’s Health Center, South Arkansas Regional Hospital, Ashley County Medical Center, Arkansas Department of Health, and the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Medicaid. These partners bring deep histories of service in rural healthcare and have committed to shared goals of improving maternal health access, continuity, and outcomes across rural Ashley and Union Counties. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences qualifies for the top 10 states with the highest average MCTA score funding priority. HEART Moms will serve Ashley and Union Counties in Arkansas, which is one of the states with the top 10 highest average MCTA scores. Additionally, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences seeks priority points for established network history between the HEART Moms Network Partners, which share decades-long partnerships on a range of maternal health projects. HEART Moms will directly serve rural women who are pregnant or are hoping to become pregnant by bringing comprehensive, team-based care closer to home and building a maternal health system that lasts beyond the grant period.
