by Mississippi’s health officers have declared an emergency for public health after new data has resulted in an increase in the death of infants, which has caused the state’s highest child mortality rate for over a decade.
In 2024 there were 9.7 deaths for children per 1,000 live births in 2024, which, according to the State Ministry of Health, is almost twice as high as the latest national average of 5.5 deaths per 1,000. The state has to deal with high child mortality rates for a long time. Since 2014 there have been 3,527 babies who died in the state before their first birthday, said civil servants of the public healthcare system.
The main causes of infant deaths in Mississippi include innate malformations, premature birth, low birth weight and sudden infant syndrome for children.
“Too many Mississippi families lose their babies before their first birthday,” said Dr. Dan Edney, state health officer. “We cannot and will not accept these numbers as our reality.”
The data also showed that black infants in Mississippi are twice as likely before their first birthday as white infants die – and repeat a concerned national trend of black infants in all breeds with the highest mortality rate.
According to the Ministry of Health, 15.2 black infants per 1,000 live births died in 2024 compared to 5.8 out of 1,000 live births of white infants.
Mississippi State Department of Health Officers say that you hope that you will explain an emergency for public health that you can take faster measures to tackle the worrying trend.
The plan of health officers includes the expansion of prenatal services in areas without obstetric providers, the expansion of the health programs of the community and the combating of gaps in mothers care in hospitals and medical providers.
In the meantime, changes to Medicaid, as part of President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill”, will disproportionally influence Mississippi. According to KFF, almost six out of ten births in the state are financed by Medicaid, which provides for an analysis of health policy.
According to KFF, the rural Americans have long rely on Medicaid, and cuts in the Medicaid editions of the federal government approved in the new law, which are approved in the new law.
A study at the beginning of this year also showed that an increase in child mortality coordinated with states that have issued prohibitions of abortion or severe restrictions after the Supreme Court has been lifted Roe v. calf in 2022.
In the 14 countries in which abortions were prohibited or forbidden after laws that came into force between September 2021 and August 2022, there were estimated 478 deaths in infants that would not have occurred if the restrictions were not given, according to the study published in Jama.
According to the effect of the bans, the children’s mortality rates were 6.26 per 1,000 live births compared to an expected rate of 5.93 per 1,000, which is a relative increase of 5.60 percent.
Mississippi prohibited all abortions, except to save the life of a pregnant person or after rape or incest Roe v. calf was overturned.
