JACKSON, Miss. — Many parts of Mississippi are known as “maternity care deserts.” This means these counties have no hospitals or birth centers where women can give birth safely.
In Jackson, places like the Magnolia Medical Foundation offer a rare lifeline.
Dr. Nakeitra Burse, a public health expert, says working to improve maternal care is a calling for her.
“I was a sophomore at Mississippi State when I first became aware of these issues,” Burse said. “My aunt, who was a young doctor, was pregnant for the first time. My mother was also in nursing school then.”
Burse’s aunt Kimberly was a healthy woman in her early 30s. But after a C-section, she began to have serious health problems.
“My aunt and mother talked to the doctor and raised concerns. They asked if different treatments could be tried. The doctor said everything was under control,” Burse explained.
Despite their knowledge and urgency, Kimberly was not transferred to a larger hospital until five days later. By then, she was in organ failure and had suffered multiple strokes.
“She died five days after giving birth,” Burse said sadly.
Kimberly left behind a healthy baby boy, Braxton.
Tragedy struck Burse’s family again. In 2016, her sister suffered from severe preeclampsia and had to deliver her baby prematurely. The baby weighed only one pound and fought for eight months in intensive care before passing away. That same year, Burse’s sister-in-law also died three weeks after childbirth.
Studies show Black women are three to four times more likely to die from childbirth complications than white women. This is one of the largest racial disparities in women’s health.
In 2025, Mississippi lawmakers passed three new laws to address maternal health. One bill allows community health workers to be certified and paid through Medicaid. Another creates paid family leave for state workers. The third bill lets eligible mothers start Medicaid care immediately, without waiting for approval.
State Representative Zakiya Summers said these laws will help but more action is needed.
“Hundreds of thousands of Mississippians still don’t have healthcare because they earn too much for Medicaid but can’t afford private insurance,” Summers said. “We must expand Medicaid in our state.”
Experts agree that systemic racism plays a big role in the high maternal death rates. Between 2016 and 2020, discrimination was linked to 22 maternal deaths in Mississippi, according to a state review.
Dr. Burse said the problem is deeply rooted in history.
“Black women’s first encounter with Western medicine was on the slave auction block,” she said. “They were stripped of their identity and forced into harsh labor. This history devalues Black bodies from the start.”
Burse also mentioned J. Marion Sims, once called the ‘Father of Modern Gynecology,’ who performed surgeries on enslaved Black women without anesthesia. This may have contributed to harmful myths that Black women feel less pain.
“If I say my pain is a 10 but don’t scream, my pain should still be treated as a 10,” Burse said.
She believes her aunt’s death could have been prevented.
“I don’t think the doctor intended to mistreat her, but there was complacency and a sense of superiority that led to poor care,” Burse said.
Braxton, her aunt’s son, will turn 22 in October.
“We try to fill the gaps of love and guidance, but nothing replaces a mother’s presence,” Burse said.
In April, during Black Maternal Health Week, State Representative Timaka James-Jones shared her family’s painful story.
At 3 a.m. on July 5, four days before delivery, her niece Harmony had a seizure. The county’s only ambulance was already on a call. Harmony’s husband Byron drove her 30 miles to the nearest emergency room. Along the way, Byron performed CPR on Harmony by the roadside. Both Harmony and her unborn child Harper died just three miles from the hospital.
This tragedy echoes in many rural areas of Mississippi. A 2022 study showed that much of the state’s rural population is more than an hour away from a birth facility.
Mississippi ranks among the worst in the U.S. for maternal and infant deaths.
“More than 80% of these deaths are preventable,” said Dr. Dan Edney, State Health Officer. “Mothers die because of where they live.”
Hospitals in the Delta region have closed departments or shut down entirely due to lack of funding and high uninsured rates.
Delta Health System had to close its neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) because of costs. Their ICU beds were cut from 16 to 8, straining emergency rooms.
Medicaid expansion could help, but until then, grants support programs like Doula Training and Rural Moms. These help new mothers with transportation, mental health, and health monitoring equipment.
Dr. Edney hopes to create a statewide system for maternal care, similar to the trauma care network used since the 1990s. High-risk mothers could be transferred quickly to the care they need, saving lives.
“Harmony was my niece. Harper was my grandniece,” said Rep. James-Jones emotionally. “Mississippi, we need to do better. We have to do better.”
Her words are a call to action. All mothers deserve to be seen, heard, and cared for during pregnancy and childbirth.
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