Connecticut health leaders urge use of paid leave in new Black Maternal Health Equity Blueprint

Nancy Barrow, host of the Paid Leave podcast, interviewed the architects of Connecticut’s Black Maternal Health Equity Blueprint about plans to reduce severe maternal morbidity among Black women and the role state paid leave can play in improving outcomes.

Tiffany Donaldson, president and CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation, and Dr. Marcella Nunez‑Smith, associate dean for health equity research at Yale and director of its Equity Research and Innovation Center, said the blueprint was built from advisory‑committee deliberations and a statewide listening effort dubbed Connecticut Insights that gathered over 200 voices.

“The data shows us that’s where the gaps are,” Donaldson said, explaining that the foundation’s 2024 strategic planning interviews repeatedly elevated maternal health equity as a statewide priority. She said the advisory committee included commissioners from the Department of Social Services and Department of Public Health, hospitals, federally qualified health centers, doulas, midwives and other stakeholders chosen by their associations so that decision‑makers and impacted community members were both represented.

Dr. Nunez‑Smith described the blueprint as a response to the urgency exposed by persistent disparities: “We are really, really fortunate…to have an organization that is thinking about policy and disparities, but doing the action work,” she said, stressing that maternal health equity is both bipartisan and time‑sensitive.

The blueprint, Donaldson said, includes first‑year milestones and five‑year goals and lays out mechanisms for baselining data, tracking progress and pivoting when necessary. The foundation has engaged an outside organization to help lead implementation and plans to re‑engage stakeholders in the near term.

Both guests highlighted Connecticut Paid Leave as a concrete tool to support recovery and bonding after childbirth. “Having time at home is critically important for the healing process after you leave the hospital,” Donaldson said, noting paid leave’s role in economic security and long‑term family health.

Donaldson also emphasized the practical interplay of income replacement and job protection: “We tell them to take FMLA along with Connecticut paid leave because FMLA gives you your job back. Connecticut paid leave is just the income replacement portion,” she said, advising that workers use both benefits together to secure up to 12 weeks of paid leave and job protection.

The guests stressed outreach to ensure equity in uptake. They noted national research showing that Black and Hispanic workers use medical leave at lower rates than white workers and said the blueprint includes actions to improve awareness among part‑time and seasonal workers and clinicians.

On clinician training, Dr. Nunez‑Smith said medical education has progressed but still leaves gaps in clinicians’ awareness of severe maternal morbidity and social determinants of health; the blueprint aims to address practice, policy and system‑level drivers that produce preventable harm.

Donaldson credited broad participation and coordination across sectors for the blueprint’s development. “When you see their names, please know it really is them. It’s their voices. It’s their ideas that are incorporated into this blueprint,” she said, adding that the project took about 18 months.

The podcast closed with a call to action: the hosts and guests urged listeners to learn about the blueprint, engage with local partners, and use available benefits. For more information or to apply for benefits, Barrow directed listeners to ctpaidleave.org.

The blueprint’s immediate next steps include implementing first‑year goals, re‑engaging advisory partners, and launching outreach to ensure eligible workers — including part‑time and seasonal employees — are aware of Connecticut Paid Leave and how it complements FMLA.