Mississippi has declared a public health emergency after infant deaths in the state surged to their highest level in 15 years.
Latest data showed 323 babies died in the state before their first birthday in 2024, or a death rate of 9.7 fatalities per 1,000 births.
That is up from 8.9 per 1,000 the prior year, and the highest rate since 2009 when the rate was 10.1 per 1,000.
Mississippi has had the worst infant mortality rate in the nation for seven years, and was well above the national average of 5.6 deaths per 1,000 in 2023, the latest national data available.
Health officials are not sure what is driving the uptick but blame a combination of problems transferring expectant mothers between hospitals, limited access to doctors and rural travel times to care.
Most of the state’s infant deaths are linked to preterm births, birth defects, low birthweight, birth defects and sudden infant death syndrome, the unexplained sudden death of a baby before their first birthday.
State Health Officer Dr Dan Edney said: ‘Too many Mississippi families are losing their babies before their first birthday.
‘Every 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.'
The emergency declaration allows the Mississippi State Department of Health to access and quickly allocate funds to agencies to tackle the crisis.
It also allows the department to set standards for maternal and infant care statewide and protocols for transferring patients between hospitals, helping to slash fatalities.
The latest infant mortality figures for Mississippi are also 20 percent above the record low in 2020, when 288 babies died before their first birthday, equivalent to a mortality rate of 8.12 deaths per 1,000 births.
This may have been linked to boosted healthcare coverage during the Covid pandemic, which saw nearly 190,000 additional people in the state receive coverage.
But since that date, infant deaths appear to have been gradually trending upward, with data from this year yet to be revealed.
Officials at the local health department told DailyMail.com that the current rise is likely due to problems getting expectant mother's urgent care and a lack of hospitals in many areas of the state, termed 'healthcare deserts'.
About 54 percent of Mississippi residents live in rural areas, areas with few homes, buildings or other people. For comparison, nationwide about 20 percent of Americans live in rural areas.
Dr Edney told this website in a statement: 'The problem is not physicians, nurses, hospitals, EMS quality, healthcare quality in Mississippi or Medicaid. The problem is the system.
'There has not been a guiding force to get mothers to the right hospital, not necessarily the closest.'
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He added: 'Moms at high-risk are having problems being transferred from one facility to another. I believe with coordination, collaboration, and cooperation, we can reduce this unacceptable mortality rate.'
There are also problems accessing maternity care in the state, with 51.2 percent of counties defined as maternity care deserts in the state by non-profits, or a county with no hospitals or birth centers.
This was the worst rate in the US, and above the 32.6 percent average for the nation.
Among those affected was Harmony Stribling, of Belonzi in the Mississippi Delta, and her unborn daughter, Harper. Both died just four days before the due date, while on their way to the hospital.
Belonzi had been without a hospital for more than a decade, leaving the nearest facility 20 to 30 minutes away.
Stribling’s pregnancy was uneventful, but at about 12.30am four days before her due date in 2021 she told her partner, Byron, that she was experiencing chest pain.
Pictured above is Harmony Stribling, who died while on the way to the hospital four days before her due date. Her baby, Harper, also did not survive. Her family says she may have survived if there was a hospital in their local area
Because of the long wait times for an ambulance, the couple decided to drive themselves to the hospital in a neighboring town. On the way, Stribling went into cardiac arrest and began to have a seizure.
Her husband pulled over and performed CPR in an attempt to save her and their baby. The ambulance arrived 10 to 15 minutes later, but by then, both Harmony and Harper had died.
Her husband is raising awareness of the case, saying he believes both would have survived if there had been a hospital in the town.
He told WLBT3: 'My mother-in-law said that one of the nurses told her that if my wife would have had oxygen sooner, my daughter would’ve survived and it’s a possibility [Harmony] would’ve survive.
'We’re not asking for things that we don’t need. We are asking for necessities. Emergency care is a necessity.'
Cindy Rahman, the president of maternity advocacy group March of Dimes, said the alert was a 'painful reminder' of the 'maternal and infant health crisis facing our nation'.
She added: 'Although Mississippi accounts for less than one percent of US births, the state accounts for more than 1.6 percent of all infant deaths.
'These losses should be a wake up call to the nation.'