The Mississippi Department of Health recently declared a public health emergency in response to rising infant deaths in an unusual move to help speed up efforts to cover gaps in care.

Lowering the state’s infant mortality rate won’t be easy, health experts warn, and will potentially be made trickier by the ongoing overhaul of the federal public health system.

“This declaration by Mississippi is a bold and necessary step to elevate infant mortality to the level of urgent crisis response,” said Michael Warren, chief medical and health officer for the March of Dimes. “Declaring a public health emergency shines a spotlight on the severity of this crisis.”

The overall infant mortality rate in Mississippi rose to 9.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024, according to the state’s Department of Health, the highest it's been in more than a decade.

Since 2014, more than 3,500 babies in the state have died before turning 1.

Mississippi’s public health crisis reflects a wider trend, and other states like California and New Jersey have launched initiatives to address maternal and infant health.

Mississippi, however, has had the highest infant mortality rates in the nation since 2017, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show. The most common causes of infant death in the state are congenital malformations, low birth weight, and accidents, according to state health data shared with The Hill.

Mississippi State Health Officer Dan Edney declared a public health emergency to expedite plans the agency already had in the works to mitigate infant deaths, according to a........

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