HARTFORD, Conn. (Nov. 19, 2025) – Connecticut can take steps to reduce racial gaps in severe complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, according to a blueprint for maternal health equity published by the Connecticut Health Foundation.
Despite being one of the country’s healthiest states, Connecticut ranks in the bottom half of the nation when it comes to the rate of severe maternal morbidity – life-threatening complications related to pregnancy. Black women are twice as likely as their white counterparts to experience these severe complications, which are often preventable.
The blueprint outlines steps to reduce the rate of severe maternal morbidity among Black women by 50 percent within three years. The blueprint calls for action from multiple sectors, including Connecticut policymakers, health care providers, community-based organizations, philanthropy, and others.
“This blueprint grew out of both data and stories. We’ve seen the data that shows there are tremendous inequities in maternal health outcomes. We’ve also heard from so many people who experienced life-threatening complications during and after pregnancy, who felt unheard while getting care, who are afraid to grow their families because of how dangerous it can be,” said Tiffany Donelson, president and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation. “We must work together as a state to address these inequities and preventable complications. The health and well-being of all our families and our state’s future depend on it.”
The blueprint was developed by a multidisciplinary team including researchers and clinical care providers from the Yale Equity Research and Innovation Center and the Yale Global Health Leadership Initiative. The process was guided by an advisory committee representing many sectors and people with lived experience and included focus groups and town hall meetings with more than 200 people, as well as review by subject-matter experts in Connecticut and across the country.
“This blueprint is more than a plan — it is a bold invitation to reimagine what equitable maternal health systems can be,” said Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, associate dean for health equity research and director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center at Yale School of Medicine, who served as chair of the advisory committee. “By weaving together lived experience, scientific rigor, and community wisdom, we are charting a future where health equity is not just an aspiration — it is the standard.”
The blueprint’s recommendations focus on five key topics:
- Tracking and awareness: Treating inequities in severe maternal morbidity as a critical public health issue.
- Access to all provider types: Ensuring patients can access a wide range of maternal health care providers, including doulas and community health workers.
- Behavioral health: Strengthening connections between maternal health and behavioral health services.
- Workforce diversity and training: Addressing discrimination in health care and diversifying the workforce.
- Economic stability: Increasing economic security and economic mobility among families.
The blueprint also includes a set of first-year actions to be carried out by people from multiple sectors.
To begin implementing the blueprint, the Connecticut Health Foundation plans to convene those interested in working toward the year-one actions. The foundation welcomes others to take up aspects of the recommendations and incorporate the blueprint into their own work.
“There are many people and organizations already doing tremendous work on maternal health equity in Connecticut, and we hope this blueprint aligns with and will help to bolster their progress,” Donelson said. “It is possible to make improvements and achieve equity, but it will take all of us working together.”
>>> Click here to read the full blueprint.
>>> Click here to read the executive summary.
>>> Click here to read a fact sheet with key next steps.
For more information, please contact Arielle Levin Becker at arielle@cthealth.org or 860-724-1580 x 116.
About the Connecticut Health Foundation
The Connecticut Health Foundation is the state’s largest independent health philanthropy dedicated to improving health outcomes for people of color. Since its creation in 1999, the foundation has awarded more than $80 million to nonprofit organizations and public entities to expand health equity, reduce health disparities, expand health coverage, and improve the health of all Connecticut residents.