Mississippi continues to rank first in the nation in fetal deaths, according to 2021 data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week.
The report examined deaths of fetuses in utero that occurred after 20 weeks’ gestation, also known as stillbirths, in the United States. Mississippi led the nation with a rate of 10 deaths per 1,000 live births, almost twice the national rate of 5.73.
Mississippi has also long led the nation in infant mortality, or the death of babies up to one year of age.
State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney said “the time for study and evaluation has passed,” and it is time for action.
“We’ve been working for the past year to implement the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies program for high-risk moms and babies on Medicaid,” Edney continued. “We’ve also just been given the endorsement of the state Board of Health to develop the best OB system of care that we possibly can, following the models of national organizations and the other 10 states that have mandatory maternal levels of care for hospitals.”
Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies is a partnership between the state’s Health Department and the state Division of Medicaid that places registered nurse case managers in the homes of mothers undergoing high-risk pregnancies and who have recently given birth.
Similar to the Mississippi State Department of Health’s trauma, ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, and stroke systems of care, the OB system will facilitate transferring high-risk pregnant women and their babies to the right level of care at the right time. The system of care is not yet in place — the state Board of Health just authorized staff to start working on it at its board meeting earlier this month.
