State leaders met with medical experts for a roundtable discussion on maternal health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Wednesday morning. Arkansas has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the nation.

Panelists spoke on many specific issues, but said the biggest barriers to maternal health are awareness, education, and access. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders says many risk factors go unnoticed because women do not meet with providers early on.

"We have a vast number of women who are not seeing a doctor," said Sanders. "In fact, one in five women in the state of Arkansas are not seeing a doctor until they are actually in labor.”

Maternal health roundtable with state leaders held at UAMS