Early, high-quality prenatal care is critical to reducing risks for complications of pregnancy or birth and improving birth outcomes.

In 2016, 60% of births were to women who began prenatal care early, up from 56% in 2014. Arkansas is last in the nation on this indicator (a rate of 60% compared to 75% nationally). Rates have increased for blacks, Hispanics and whites, with a particularly sharp increase (9 points) for blacks. In 2016, they were highest for whites at 62%, compared to 54% for black or African American births, 52% for Hispanic births and 29% for Asian or Pacific Islander births.

Within the state, the lowest rates were in Clark and Nevada counties (17% and 29%) and highest in Benton and Prairie counties, both at 75%.

National data is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). State and county data are from the Arkansas Department of Health. The CDC and Arkansas identify individuals by their race (white, black, etc.) separately from their ethnicity (Hispanic or non-Hispanic). So the totals for these categories cannot be added together, as people show up in both a racial and ethnic group. Due to Arkansas' change to a new birth certificate form in 2014 (the 2003 U.S. Standard Certificate of Live Birth) used to collect this information, prior years of data are not comparable and excluded from the charts above. Aggregate national numbers for 2014 exclude Connecticut, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. Rhode Island is included in 2015, and all states are included in 2016.