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<\/p>\n Email Link<\/p>\n \n The Mississippi health department declared a public health emergency<\/a> Thursday over rising infant mortality rates in the state.\n <\/p>\n \n There were 9.7 deaths for every 1,000 births in Mississippi in 2024, the highest rate in more than a decade, according to a news release from the state health department. More than 3,500 babies in Mississippi have died before the age of 1 since 2014.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cEvery single infant loss represents a family devastated, a community impacted and a future cut short. We cannot and will not accept these numbers as our reality. Declaring this a public health emergency is more than a policy decision; it is an urgent commitment to save lives,\u201d State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney said in the release.\n <\/p>\n \n An emergency declaration creates certain opportunities for mobilizing resources to address an issue. The state health department\u2019s strategy includes activating a standardized system for maternal and infant care, eliminating maternity care deserts<\/a>, expanding access to resources for mothers and babies through community health worker programs and home visits, and education on safe sleep practices.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cImproving maternal health is the best way to reduce infant mortality,\u201d Edney said. \u201cThat means better access to prenatal and postpartum care, stronger community support and more resources for moms and babies. Healthy women of childbearing age are more likely to have healthy pregnancies, which in turn lead to healthier babies.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n About a third of US counties do not have a single obstetric clinician, according to a report released last year by the infant and maternal health nonprofit March of Dimes<\/a>. In Mississippi, nearly half of all counties are considered maternity care deserts, according to the organization.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe Mississippi Department of Health\u2019s declaration of a public health emergency in response to infant mortality is a painful reminder of the maternal and infant health crisis facing our nation,\u201d Cindy Rahman, March of Dimes\u2019 president and CEO, said in a statement. \u201cAlthough Mississippi accounts for less than 1% of US births, the state accounts for more than 1.6% of all infant deaths. These losses should be a wake-up call to the nation. March of Dimes supports Mississippi\u2019s public health leadership for raising attention to this critical issue and outlining key strategies to improve birth outcomes in the state.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to release its own data on infant mortality later this year, but the Mississippi health department said that it \u201crecognized the urgency of this crisis and could not wait to take action.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The latest available data from the CDC shows that that the national infant mortality rate rose for the first time in 20 years<\/a> in 2022. Mississippi had the highest infant mortality of all 50 states that year, more than 60% higher than the national average.\n <\/p>\n \n The leading causes of infant mortality in Mississippi are congenital malformations, preterm birth, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), according to the state\u2019s news release, in line with CDC data on the top causes nationwide. Black babies in Mississippi are particularly vulnerable, with more than 15 deaths for every 1,000 live births in 2024 \u2013 a 24% jump in one year over already higher-than-average rates.\n <\/p>\n \n Recent research<\/a> has drawn some possible connections between infant mortality and abortion restrictions. A CNN investigative report<\/a> found that infant mortality spiked in Texas after a six-week abortion ban took effect in 2021, and a study published in October suggests that the impacts of the bans and restrictions enacted by some states since the US Supreme Court Dobbs decision that revoked the federal right to an abortion have been large enough to affect broader trends \u2013 hundreds more infants died than expected<\/a> in the US in the year and a half after that decision.\n <\/p>\n \n March of Dimes also emphasized the \u201ccritical\u201d importance of protecting Medicaid to support the health care of newborns and their mothers.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cMedicaid covers nearly 53% of births in Mississippi and 40% nationwide, making it a critical lifeline for moms and babies. Any cuts or restrictions will only make this crisis worse,\u201d Rahman said. \u201cThe United States is among the most dangerous developed nations for childbirth. We cannot afford to move backward.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Facebook Tweet Email Link The Mississippi health department declared a public health emergency Thursday over rising infant mortality…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64,63,137,500],"class_list":["post-93908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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