JONESBORO, Ark. – A new list released this month by Forbes ranks Arkansas as the worst place to have a baby in all 50 states. According to a Sept. 4 article by Forbes, Arkansas ranked lower than any other state across five metrics from two government and two nonprofit databases. Seven of the top 10 worst states to have a baby were in the South. Mississippi had the worst infant mortality rate, at 8.87 deaths per 1,000 live births (Arkansas was the second worst at 7.88). Meanwhile, Vermont was the best, with 3.33 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.