Connecticut Health Foundation

04/16/2026

Our maternal health equity blueprint was informed by the voices, lived experiences, and expertise of many people in Connecticut.

The blueprint aims to achieve a 50 percent reduction in the burden of severe maternal morbidity among Black women over three years. To do so, it calls for action in support of five strategic priorities.

4️⃣- Address discrimination in health care and diversify the workforce.

• Increase the number and diversity of doulas, nurse-midwives, behavioral health workers, and ob-gyns – the parts of the perinatal workforce with the largest gaps.

• Mandate that frontline care providers receive training designed to advance equity and reduce bias in the health setting, using content and format with strong evidence of effectiveness.

• Set up multiple measurement systems to safeguard maternal health equity and foster accountability and mitigation at the provider- and health system-level.

Learn more about all of the strategic priorities:https://www.cthealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Maternal-Health-Equity-Blueprint-Executive-Summary.pdf

04/15/2026

To reduce the burden of severe maternal morbidity among Black women in Connecticut, our maternal health equity blueprint calls for action in support of five strategic priorities.

2️⃣ - Ensure patients can access a wide range of maternal health care providers.

•Build on financing reforms such as bundled payment models for maternity care services.
• Address implementation barriers to reforms that have already been secured.

3️⃣ - Strengthen connections between maternal health and behavioral health services.

•Ensure there is appropriate infrastructure (policy, funding, and training) to support maternal mental health needs from pregnancy to one year postpartum.
• Develop policies to integrate mental health screening and linkages to care at multiple entry points.



Learn more about these priorities here:https://www.cthealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Maternal-Health-Equity-Blueprint-Executive-Summary.pdf

04/15/2026

We are excited to announce our first quarter grants!

These organizations are doing important work to advance health equity in our state.

Grants from the first quarter include one to the CT Department of Social Services to support their development of a communications strategy for upcoming Medicaid changes. The goal is to prevent the changes from widening racial and ethnic health disparities by helping people stay covered.

Learn more about our grantees' impactful work below.

April 14, 2026 | News Release: Connecticut Health Foundation awards $345,000 in grants during first quarter.

04/14/2026

During we are highlighting the five strategic priorities from our maternal health equity blueprint.

1️⃣- Treat inequities in severe maternal morbidity as a critical public health issue.

• Establish a statewide severe maternal morbidity review process.
• Prioritize data collection by establishing standards and a reporting mechanism.
• Identify a coordinating structure to support work to address severe maternal morbidity.
• Create a mechanism to track and evaluate policies for reducing severe maternal morbidity.
• Promote awareness of severe maternal morbidity as a critical public health issue.

Learn more here: https://www.cthealth.org/publication/maternal-health-equity-blueprint-ct/

04/13/2026

It is .

Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. But these often preventable deaths are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Black maternal health.

For every Black mother who dies, there are many more who experience life-threatening complications related to pregnancy — a condition known as severe maternal morbidity.

In Connecticut, Black women are twice as likely as white women to experience these severe complications. Our state ranks in the bottom half of the nation in this measure.

There is work to be done to ensure Black mothers can not only survive but have the same opportunity as other moms to have a safe and healthy pregnancy, birth, and start to parenthood.

Our blueprint for maternal health equity calls for action in support of five strategic priorities. We'll be highlighting them this week and you can read the full blueprint below.

November 12, 2025 | The maternal health equity blueprint for Connecticut aims to achieve a 50 percent reduction in the burden of severe maternal morbidity among Black women over three years, closing the racial gap for Connecticut and improving outcomes for all.

04/10/2026

In this week's health news roundup:

-Incarcerated people in Connecticut wait years for medical care, records show.
-A worst-case projection of Medicaid coverage losses in Connecticut.
-Urgent care centers fill health care gaps in rural areas.

Read these stories and others here: https://www.cthealth.org/latest-news/health-news-roundup/how-many-people-in-connecticut-are-at-risk-of-losing-medicaid-and-more-in-this-weeks-roundup/

04/07/2026

The newest episode of the CT Paid Leave podcast features a conversation about our maternal health equity blueprint!

Marcella Nunez-Smith and our president and CEO Tiffany Donelson joined Nancy Barrow to talk about how the blueprint was created, the voices that informed it, and what needs to happen in Connecticut to improve maternal health outcomes.

🎧 Listen here: https://www.ctpaidleave.org/resources-and-guides/paid-leave-podcast?language=en_US

💻 On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIsMizzlEU&list=PLqMuFR1j5OcUkDsnU0vrMW20bQvZeXzT9&index=1

🔊 On Spotify: nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Fepisode%2F3alK9ML4iGkAf8OucsVOaF&data=05%7C02%7Cgaby%40cthealth.org%7C7a3ec828c2d642f99a9c08de94030205%7C75474037503344cbae238c5e041a06f6%7C1%7C0%7C639110937841523358%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Er%2BtV1Ilb2NnI%2FaFR7fWWHX8biaNvWUd%2FWggTlpX5Fs%3D&reserved=0

04/06/2026

We are excited to be part of this community event hosted by Hartford HealthCare!

The health fair will offer onsite health screenings, community conversations focused on women’s health, and tools to navigate the health system and our president and CEO Tiffany Donelson will be participating in a panel discussion.

04/03/2026

In this week's health news roundup:

-A woman who lost her health coverage for owing her insurer a nickel.
-Why millions of seniors have lost their health insurance.
-Government-backed clinics brace for impacts of Medicaid cuts.

Read these stories and others here: https://www.cthealth.org/latest-news/health-news-roundup/why-millions-of-seniors-have-lost-their-health-insurance-and-more-in-this-weeks-roundup/

04/01/2026

Connecticut is considered one of the healthiest states overall but not everyone has the same opportunities to be as healthy as possible.

Health disparities persist across many different health conditions.

This blog post highlights some of those disparities. Learn more below.

March 31, 2026 | Blog Post: Connecticut is considered one of the healthiest states overall but not everyone has the same opportunities to be as healthy as possible. Race and ethnicity play a significant role in who gets sick, who experiences the most severe outcomes, and who can access health care.....

03/27/2026

In this week's health news roundup:

-Insurers taking notice of the importance of doulas.
-Why rural health providers are skeptical of plans to use AI.
-How Medicaid cuts could impact mental health care.

Read these stories and others here: https://www.cthealth.org/latest-news/health-news-roundup/medicaid-cuts-could-impact-mental-health-care-and-more-in-this-weeks-roundup/

03/26/2026

Great news from one of our grantees!

This program is an example of how valuable community health workers are in improving health outcomes.