According to the Mississippi State Department of Health, the infant mortality rate has declined in the state of Mississippi. MSDH officials report a significant downward trend in the state’s infant mortality rate from 2005 to 2012. 
In the recently released 2012 numbers, the state’s infant mortality rate was 8.8 per 1,000 live births, compared to 9.4 in 2011, 9.6 in 2010, 10.0 in 2009, 9.9 in 2008, 10.1 in 2007, 10.5 in 2006 and 11.4 in 2005.
On Sept. 13, in an MSDH news release, the State of Mississippi’s health officer Dr. Marie Currier said there were many factors that played a role in dealing with the extremely complex issue of infant mortality.
“In order to continue to see this decline in the deaths of our infants, we must ensure that women are healthy before they are pregnant and have access to good prenatal care when they become pregnant,” Currier said. 
The state has also seen a decline in teen birth rates from 2008 through 2012. In 2012 Mississippi’s teen birth rate was 46 births per 1,000 teens, compared to 65.6 in 2008.
 
Director for Health Education and Wellness at Mississippi State University Joyce Yates said in an email healthy living is a very important factor in the infant mortality rate decline. Yates said if a woman is healthy before becoming pregnant and if she has access to good prenatal care, her chances of having a healthy infant certainly increase.
“Education on healthy living in general is very important to the teen population, but more important is that the teen understands how to practice these health habits,” Yates said.
Lynne Cossman, head of the department of sociology at MSU, said in an email that sociologists look at a wide variety of factors, both individual factors and contextual factors, to explain shifts in these trends. 
“The demographic makeup of the state also plays a critical role in our infant mortality rates, which are some of the highest in the nation. Mississippi’s teen pregnancy rates and infant mortality rates are both influenced by the economic circumstances of the state, in that this is a poor state, and we have high rates of teen pregnancy and infant mortality,” Cossman said.
Ceci Land, Mississippi resident, said she is curious to know the demographics of the decline, and if it was metropolitan areas in which there were statistics changes.
“You probably can make a speculation based on the rural areas where there is a more static population, whereas the urban areas have a more fluid population,” Land said.
To promote the birth of a healthy infant, Yates suggests pregnant women should consider good health habits such as exercise, ample sleep and rest, a nutritious diet, drugs and alcohol and have regular medical examinations.
 “Teens and all pregnant women need to be aware of the risk of smoking around infants, the use of restraining infants in the car by using approved car seats, the importance of a good sleep and the availability of social support,” Yates said.
Land said she believes the improvement of healthy living within people might also be a reason for the decline. 
“The younger generation seems to have learned possibly from their parents what not to do,” Land said.
While Mississippi’s infant mortality rate is on the decline, the state continues to remain above the 2013 national average of 5.9 deaths per 1,000 live births.