Frank Ross said when his daughter, Jasmyne, was born in May, she was so small his wedding band fit loosely over her tiny arm. Suffering from abnormally high blood pressure, Frank Ross' wife, Tammie, gave birth when she was 24 weeks pregnant. Because Jasmyne was also smaller than expected for her gestational age, doctors at Baptist Health Systems in Jackson feared her ability to survive would be even lower.

But through the availability of neonatal technology and care at Baptist, a healthy Jasmyne went home in August weighing nearly 6 pounds.

Health officials say Jasmyne's story illustrates how far Mississippi has come in reducing the number of babies dying before they reach their first birthday.

According to recently released infant mortality rates, the state slightly improved its rate from 10. 6 of every 1,000 babies under age 1 dying in 2000 to 10. 5 of every 1,000 perishing in 2001.

Those figures translate into 468 babies in 2000 and 443 last year that didn't celebrate their first birthday.

While calling the slight reduction good news, health officials warn that the downward trend won't hold when the figures start to reflect the impact that tort fallout has had on neonatal and prenatal care in Mississippi.

For example, at least nine doctors in the Delta have stopped delivering babies in the last year, according to the Mississippi State Medical Association.

"That is one of the things that I'm most afraid of," said State Health Officer Dr. Ed Thompson. "We've worked so hard to get it to come down and I'd hate to see it go up again. If all the family practitioners and OB-GYN doctors are forced out of state, it could go the wrong way very easily. I hope that tort reform will help reverse that trend. If we don't stem the tide and they do leave, we could see all that work undone. "

Historically, Mississippi has struggled with its infant mortality rate, always being the worst among all states.

Nationally, 7. 2 of every 1,000 babies under age 1 died in 2000.

Physicians like Dr. W. L. Prichard said they've made it their life's work to bring Mississippi's rates down.

"I've been out here doing this for nearly 25 years," said Prichard, a obstetrician-gynecologist in Indianola. "We got involved with the health department in trying to bring the numbers down in the late 1970s. It was just me and one other doctor and each year, we started holding infant mortality conferences. We were just trying to get everyone's OB-GYN and newborn skills pulled up to speed. Both the government and private sector were working together and people were doing it on their own. We were pioneers back then. "

Soon, the statistics began to reflect their hard work.

In 1970, more than 1,400 babies died before their first birthday in Mississippi. By 1980, that figure had dropped to 812. Ten years later, 528 babies died. Since then, the numbers have steadily declined.

"We really did make a big dent in it," Prichard said. "But we're fixing to take a big step back. Doctors don't want to come to stay in Mississippi, and those that are here say the least desirable place to go is the Delta. A lot of us have been putting in a lot of hours just to keep the health care system in Mississippi propped up. Unfortunately, our Legislature has only done window dressing on this. "

The law that legislators passed is designed to curb high medical malpractice premiums.

The new law limits pain and suffering awards to $500,000 until 2011, when the cap rises to $750,000. That figure increases to $1 million in 2017. The law also limits where lawsuits can be filed and changes joint and several liability, or how multiple defendants are held financially responsible.

Prichard said the measure isn't enough to curb the tide of doctors unable to afford rising premiums.

In the end, he said, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, which has taken great strides in working with rural hospitals to update equipment and train staff, may bear more of the work. </P>

"They (UMC) get high marks in my book, but they can't do it all and we can't either," Prichard said. "I'm really feeling kind of hopeless because as we lose doctors from the Delta and health care continues to deteriorate, the numbers are going to start to show it with dead babies and dead mothers. "

Dr. Philip Rhodes, UMC professor of pediatrics, director of newborn medicine, said he's hopeful Mississippi will continue to make progress.

"We're here for everyone to offer tertiary care, but we sure don't need to be delivering mothers from throughout the state," Rhodes said. "We need good basic care in all our fine delivering hospitals. We're here as a backup. "

Rhodes said babies whose mothers have adequate prenatal care tend to do better than those whose mothers do not.

"We need to make sure that every woman has early access to care, even prior to pregnancy if possible and that pregnancy care is available to her on all levels," Rhodes said.

Dr. Tom Carey of Natchez said he suspects that because that level of care has waned due to doctors being unable to afford insurance, many women will go without vital care.

Carey said Natchez had seven doctors delivering babies in 1995 but now there are only three.

"I think the Delta is most susceptible because I know they've been the hardest hit," Carey said. "It's been hard to recruit doctors to Natchez so I know it's harder to recruit in the Delta. Unfortunately, as a result you'll probably see a significant increase in the infant mortality rate. "

Carey said while he's glad the tort reform measure passed, he also thinks more should be done.

"I really hope they do something to help the OB-GYNs in the state," Carey said. "I really think we also need a federal solution because something needs to be done to allow people to see Mississippi as an option again as to where they will practice. "