Moms face a public health crisis that’s putting Mississippi behind every other state, and it could get worse under federal changes, speakers said at a Legislative Black Caucus hearing.

Amid the cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, exacerbated by the ongoing shutdown, advocates called on the state to take action. They said lawmakers should expand Medicaid, protect food assistance programs, create standardized paid parental leave, support midwives and doulas and invest in child care and early childhood education.

Mississippi is one of the most dangerous places to give birth, especially for Black women, who are four times more likely than white women to die from pregnancy-related deaths, or deaths that occur during pregnancy or up to one year postpartum and are caused in part by the pregnancy.

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