Mississippi has among the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the nation, and State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney says a lack of coordinated infrastructure is partially to blame.
“Our maternal and infant mortality rates are not due to the fact that we have bad doctors, bad nurses, bad hospitals, it's because we have a bad system,” Edney said.
That lack of coordination has consequences, according to Edney, like earlier this week when it took a full 24 hours to get a preterm baby transferred to a hospital with a NICU.
“If we're delivering a very low birth weight baby that baby needs a NICU,” Edney said. “We know that baby need a NICU, and we either need to make sure that mom is able to get to the right level of care as soon as possible to deliver, or if it's too late and she's gonna deliver wherever she is, that we are able to move her and the baby as quickly as possible afterwards.”
The health department is working to do just that by creating an Obstetrical System of Care that will route patients to the right hospital instead of just the nearest one.
Part of that process will be giving every birthing hospital a public designation based on the level of care it can provide. Advocates say that will help with a problem expecting moms often face where they struggle just to find out what resources and delivery options are available to them.
“Any initiative that makes that process (planning maternal care) easier than it already is, I think it's great,” said Kyla Scott, a program manager at the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program. … “It'll definitely save a lot more lives moving forward because giving birth in Mississippi alone is a huge risk.”
The state already has three similar systems of care in place for trauma, heart attack and stroke patients that have improved outcomes for all those patient groups.
When in place, the system will be activated as soon as a 911 call is placed about a woman going into labor. Edney says the real-time tracking from the system will provide detailed data on transfer times and outcomes that will be used to improve the system and expectations for hospitals.
“All of that is gonna be amazing data to help us improve as a rural state,” Edney said.
While advocates like Scott are glad to see work being done to protect expectant mothers, she also thinks medical intervention should start well before gestation. Scott thinks expanding Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act would go a long way in reducing the overall number of high-risk pregnancies, and the dangers associated with them as health conditions are treated earlier.
“With Medicaid expansion, a lot of women would have access to care before they're pregnant,” Scott said. “We know that there's a straight correlation between access to care before pregnancy and having a healthier birth outcome.”
