The Mississippi State Department of Health will resume its home visitation program for high-risk mothers and infants in July under a new model and will accept patients in 10 counties, department spokesman Greg Flynn told Mississippi Today. The program, known as Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies, previously served the entire state but stopped accepting patients in January, Flynn said.
Flynn identified the counties as Adams, Alcorn, Forrest, George, Jones, Lauderdale, Neshoba, Oktibbeha, Panola and Pike, according to Mississippi Today.
State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney told reporters after an April 8 Board of Health meeting that the department lacks the resources to provide home visitation services in all 82 counties and is focusing the pilot on areas that do not already have comparable services. “We identified 10 counties with no home visitation coverage, and we’re plugging into those 10 counties,” Edney said, according to Mississippi Today.
The program provides home visits, health education and referrals to wraparound services and benefits for mothers and infants who meet criteria such as chronic illness, substance use, unsafe living conditions, teen pregnancy or premature and low-weight births, the department said. Flynn told Mississippi Today the revised model will rely on community health workers for home visitation with registered nurses providing clinical oversight and licensed social workers connecting patients to resources.
The Health Department declared a public health emergency in August in response to the state’s rising infant mortality rate. The department said Mississippi’s 2024 infant mortality rate was near twice the national average, with 323 infants dying before their first birthday, and that Black infants are three times more likely to die than white infants in a review of 2023 and 2024 data. Desiree Norwood, program director for Plan A Health in the Delta, told Mississippi Today the program’s sudden pause in January was a surprise and a loss for the region: “How can we afford to lose another program? We need boots on the ground. We need all hands on deck,” she said. The department said several counties with the highest infant mortality rates from 2015 to 2024 were not selected for the pilot, and that many of the chosen counties had high past usage of the program between 2021 and 2025.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
