JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Officials with the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) said the agency is spearheading the effort to create a new OB (Obstetrics) System of Care that will save lives and provide the proper level of care for pregnant women and their babies. 

According to the latest report by the Mississippi Maternal Mortality Review Committee, 83% of maternal deaths it reviewed were preventable. The maternal mortality rate is 23.2 per 100,000 live births, with a national rate of 18.6 per 100,000 live births.

The most current Mississippi Infant Mortality Report showed the infant mortality rate at 9.2 per 1,000 births in the state, compared to 5.6 per 1,000 births nationally. 

“The problem is not physicians, nurses, hospitals, EMS quality, healthcare quality in Mississippi or Medicaid,” said Dr. Dan Edney, State Health Officer and MSDH Executive Director. “The problem is the system. There has not been a guiding force to get mothers to the right hospital – not necessarily the closest. 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.”

The MSDH recently brought together partners from around the state, including doctors, nurses, hospitals, emergency medicine, EMS, the Division of Medicaid, managed care organizations and other providers to discuss ways forward in developing a coordinated system of care.

Some of the factors involved in the deaths are linked to rural travel times, less than adequate prenatal care, lack of transparency with birthing programs “locate” data, EMS difficulties, NICU availability, lack of regional perinatal systems, and less than adequate transfer systems.

MSDH officials said the proposed OB System of Care would create increased prenatal care opportunities, perinatal regionalization, maternal and neonatal levels of care designation, facilitated and expedited transfers to appropriate levels of care, the opportunity to activate with a 911 call, an opportunity to incorporate our Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) safety initiative work, and performance improvement data.

Once initiated, this would be the fourth System of Care in the state, joining the ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) System of Care for heart attacks, the Stroke System of Care and the Trauma Care system.