'Fragile and unequipped': Mississippi mothers died preventable deaths during COVID

Mississippi women died of pregnancy complications at nearly twice the national rate during the COVID-19 pandemic, new data shows. The vast majority of those deaths were preventable, according to the latest Mississippi Maternal Mortality Report.

Between 2017 and 2021, 202 women who were either pregnant or up to one-year postpartum died. Seventy-seven of those deaths were directly related to pregnancy.

Black women were five times more likely to die from a condition or circumstance related to pregnancy, the report found.

“Unfortunately, COVID unmasked and exacerbated an already prevalent problem here in Mississippi,” said Lauren Jones, co-founder of Mom.ME and a member of the Maternal Mortality Review Committee members who contributed to the report.

The federally mandated committee, made up of physicians, advocates, social workers and others, is tasked with reviewing all pregnancy and postpartum-related deaths to determine the circumstances that caused them and whether they were preventable. The committee makes recommendations based on what members learn from reviewing the data.

The committee’s first recommendation to reduce these deaths is for the state to expand Medicaid as 40 other states have done.

“The report sheds light on exactly how fragile and unequipped we are to handle what is considered routine maternal care without adding a national health crisis to an already fractured system,” Jones said.

Study authors found that had COVID-19 not happened, it’s “highly likely” that the five-year pregnancy-related mortality rate would have gone down. Instead, it averaged 42.4 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, peaking at 62.6 in 2021 – compared to a U.S. average of 33.2 the same year at the height of the pandemic. COVID-19 was a leading cause of these deaths, second to cardiovascular conditions.

Nearly half of the women who died because of a pregnancy complication or cause in this time period never received a high school diploma. And nearly three-quarters of them were on Medicaid.

The pregnancy-related mortality rate was highest in the Delta.

A vast majority – 83% – of pregnancy-related deaths were deemed preventable. Committee members made several recommendations, including expanding Medicaid, training all health care providers on blood pressure monitoring, cultural sensitivity and screening for mental health issues.

“I want to acknowledge the Mississippi women who lost their lives in 2017-2021 while pregnant or within a year of pregnancy,” State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney said in a statement published in the report. “I extend my heartfelt condolences to their surviving loved ones, and am optimistic that once we know better, we will do better.”

This report comes at the heels of the 2022 Infant Mortality Report, which showed that Mississippi continues to lead the nation in the number of infants who die before their first birthday. However, the number of infant deaths attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, decreased by 64% between 2021 and 2022.

Edney also commended the Maternal Mortality Review Committee members who he said “tirelessly leave no question unasked and no stone unturned in exploring what happened and how these deaths might have been prevented.”

In 2024, the committee met six times to review 54 maternal deaths from 2021.

“No one wants to serve on a committee that is only established to review death. It’s mentally and emotionally hard, but as members we do it not only to lend our personal expertise in determinations but to be a voice for those lost in hopes of sparking necessary change for better outcomes,” Jones said.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.