CT Health Foundation Hosts Maternal Health Blueprint Launch

The Connecticut Health Foundation hosted a Maternal Health Blueprint Launch this week to raise awareness around its newly published blueprint for maternal health equity. 

The blueprint was shaped by insights from a multidisciplinary advisory committee – on which the Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) participated – that brought together individuals with lived experience, decision-makers, and subject-matter experts working to address maternal health equity challenges across Connecticut and nationally.

Mark Schaefer, CHA vice president of system innovation and financing, served on the advisory committee when it launched in October 2024 and participated in the launch as a panelist.  CHA continues to advocate for and advance efforts to improve maternal health outcomes in partnership with communities across the state, guided by its four-part Statewide Strategy To Improve Maternal Health. This strategy addresses structural and upstream drivers of maternal health outcomes, including racism, discrimination, and economic inequality.

The panel discussion, which took place at the Bushnell Center for Performing Arts in Hartford, was moderated by Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, founding director, Equity Research and Innovation Center, Yale School of Medicine featured Schaefer alongside SciHonor Devotion, CPM, founding director, Earth’s Natural Touch: Birth Care & Beyond; Dr. Tabassum Firoz, physician-obstetrician, internal medicine, Yale New Haven Health, Bridgeport Hospital; and Dr. Iyanna Liles, OB/GYN physician and co-chair of the CT Maternal Morbidity Review Committee.

CHA applauds many of the blueprint’s recommendations particularly those focused on increasing economic security and economic mobility for families, including a strong emphasis on diaper security and fostering a robust maternal health workforce by promoting doula collaboration and partnership with hospital and health systems during the labor and delivery event.  CHA continues to advance efforts to enhance collaboration between clinical staff and doulas including through a recent partnership with Fairfield County’s Community Foundation (FCCF)’s Black Maternal Health Initiative to develop educational programming.  CHA has also long partnered with organizations including the Diaper Bank of Connecticut to raise awareness about the health impacts of diaper insecurity and to help connect families to diaper distribution, with hospitals serving as key entry points to needed services and supports.  CHA appreciates the advisory committee carefully considering and including recommendations shared by CHA to ensure diaper security is part of the maternal health strategy.

CHA also supports the blueprint’s focus on mental health, which aligns with CHA’s work on the implementation of the AIM Perinatal Mental Health Conditions Patient Safety Bundle.

The blueprint is intended to inform the development of effective and inclusive maternal health policies in Connecticut. It outlines key next steps to reduce severe maternal morbidity among Black women by 50% over a three-year period (2026–2029) and calls for coordinated action from policymakers, healthcare providers, community-based organizations, philanthropy, and other stakeholders.

The launch was led by Tiffany Donelson, president and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation, and featured a keynote from Dr. Joia Crear-Perry.  State leaders in attendance included State Senator Matt Lesser (D-Middletown); Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) Commissioner Manisha Juthani, MD; Department of Social Services Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves; Department of Aging and Disability Services (ADS) Commissioner Amy Porter; and DPH Deputy Commissioner Lisa Morrissey.

Click here to view media coverage of the launch.

Click here to read the full blueprint.

Click here to read the executive summary.