New Initiative Targets Human Cost of Maternal Health Inequities Through System-Wide Solutions

By many measures, Connecticut is one of the best states to have a baby, but an underlying reality is that not everyone has the same chance for a safe and healthy pregnancy, birth, and start to parenthood.

The truth is that there are roughly 350 Connecticut families each year who experience severe maternal morbidity (SMM), and Black women are twice as likely as white women to experience SMM, an onset of unexpected, life-threatening complications during pregnancy, childbirth, or the postpartum period.

These can range from kidney failure to blood disorders and lead to long-term health complications or even death, where Black women are at three times greater risk. Deliveries with SMM are also five times more likely to result in infant deaths.

And this happens even though SMM is, in many cases, preventable.

The Connecticut Health Foundation wants to change this and has released a statewide blueprint for cutting SMM rates among Black women by 50% over three years, starting in 2026.

The blueprint was shaped by The Foundation, Yale University, and a wide coalition of community and clinical partners, including people with lived experience, maternal health professionals, community organizations, state agencies, and national experts. It emphasizes collaboration, accountability, and evidence-based practices working in other states.

It calls for action across five strategic priorities:

• Treat SMM inequalities as a critical public health issue.
• Ensure patients can access a wide range of maternal health care providers, including doulas and community health workers.
• Strengthen connections between maternal health and behavioral health services.
• Address discrimination in health care and diversify the workforce.
• Increase economic security and economic mobility among families.

These make the point that birthing outcomes are formed not only by medical care, but by systemic forces, the social drivers of health including housing, transportation, education, and community safety, as well as the societal climate of bias and structural racism.

Collaboration and leveraging resources is key.

In the Foundation plan some infrastructures needed to achieve the goals exist and can be built upon, some will need to be developed, and some will come from statewide sectors that join the effort in 2026.

“There are many… already doing tremendous work on maternal health equity… and we hope this blueprint… will help to bolster their progress.”

The initiative also recognizes that reaching the SMM reduction goal for Black women not only saves lives in the at-risk group but will save maternal and infant lives among all populations in Connecticut.

“We must work together…The health and wellbeing of all our families and our state’s future depend on it.”

A Healthy Baby Starts with a Healthy Mother

First Candle takes this approach every day in our Let’s Talk Community Chats and NICU Chats, which reach burdened, underserved communities and create a culturally sensitive equity-focused atmosphere where families can discuss infant safe sleep, breastfeeding and maternal wellbeing – and gain access to physical and mental health care providers, doulas, and lactation consultants, with the help of First Candle-trained peer facilitators.

This includes working with hospital NICUs to help provide culturally grounded support to families during a challenging time with safe sleep, breastfeeding, postpartum mental health awareness, and transitioning from the NICU to home.

A systemic problem requires systemic solutions

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome remains the leading cause of death in children between one month and one year of age. Following evidence-based guidelines for infant safe sleep greatly reduces the risk, but adopting these practices depends upon many day-to-day impacts.

This means support for families must be encompassing. We extend our community collaboration to the touchpoints—the continuum of care — along the pregnancy, birthing and postpartum journey. Our outreach includes training with staff in existing infrastructures – OB/GYN providers, NICU and postpartum nurses, doulas, WIC staff, pediatric providers, home visitors and community partners – so families hear the same safe sleep and infant-care messaging from trusted sources.

This is especially critical in areas with limited maternal and infant health resources and where families face higher burdens in daily work and living.

It is also essential for safeguarding maternal health. As the Connecticut Health Foundation severe maternal morbidity initiative points out, there are both acute and long-term consequences for both mothers and babies when health connections are missed, whether through lack of resources, ability, or cultural reluctance. Our training models are embedded in both evidence-based practices and anti-bias approaches that go toward building trusted relationships.

At a time when federal healthcare, health science support and health issue focus is threatened it is imperative that states, communities and organizations hold fast to their commitments to save lives and beat back challenges to improving public health.

We must look at ways to improve health outcomes through preventive approaches and innovative collaborations that will create the healthy future we want for generations today and generations to come.