← Maternal & infant health programs

NEW FROM MSPHI

Mississippi has the data.
It has never been in one place.

COMO · Center for Optimizing Maternal Outcomes

A statewide, data-driven, community-informed effort to improve maternal and infant health across Mississippi — building the state’s first community-centered maternal health dashboard, and asking the communities it serves what belongs in it.

Full site coming soon

Why COMO exists

Mississippi ranks among the states with the highest rates of maternal mortality, infant mortality and severe maternal morbidity in the nation — driven by preterm birth, hypertension in pregnancy, limited rural access to prenatal and postpartum care, and significant geographic and racial disparities.

Underneath those outcomes sits a fragmented data landscape. No single picture links what happens in a clinic to the conditions a mother actually lives in. Providers, public health and communities are each working from a different piece of the same problem.

The gap, in three numbers

Among the highest
Maternal mortality, infant mortality and severe maternal morbidity rates in the nation
No single picture
Links clinical information to the social conditions shaping maternal health statewide
Rural first
Primary focus on HRSA-designated rural and underserved communities

What COMO is building

1

A statewide maternal health dashboard

A secure, community-centric platform integrating clinical data from primary care and hospital systems with the social conditions that shape maternal health.

2

A community-informed needs assessment

A comprehensive needs and capacity assessment using a modified MAPP 2.0 process — Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships.

3

Community voice at the center

Stakeholder interviews, focus groups, and direct engagement with Head Start programs, rural communities and high-risk populations.

4

An actionable roadmap

Community-informed, evidence-based recommendations for systems improvement, aimed squarely at rural Mississippi.

Who is at the table

  • Guidehouse · needs & capacity assessment
  • HLN Consulting · dashboard & technical lead
  • CHCAMS · primary care & FQHC data
  • Mississippi Hospital Association / IntelliTrue · hospital HIE
  • Center for Mississippi Health Policy · policy translation
  • UMMC · population health & clinical training

At a glance

Lead
Mississippi Public Health Institute
Director
Amy Winter, Director of Maternal Health
Focus
Rural and underserved Mississippi
Approach
Complements and strengthens existing state efforts
Support
A congressional appropriation administered through HRSA

The full COMO site is on the way.

Until then, questions about the initiative, the assessment, or partnering with us can come straight to MSPHI.

Contact MSPHI