$2 Million in Federal Funding Awarded to Community Health Center of New Britain to Fight Maternal Mortality

Originally posted to wtnh.com.

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (WTNH) — The Community Health Center (CHC) of New Britain received $2 million in federal funding, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) announced Thursday.

The funds will be used to fight maternal mortality in the community, which has become a growing issue in recent years.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2021, the maternal mortality rate was 2.6 times higher for Black women than for white women.

“We don’t have a good explanation for why those rates of morbidity and mortality are rising in pregnancy and why they are continuingly rising in our African American population, but we know one of the answers is really good, comprehensive prenatal care,” said Margaret Flinter, CHC’s senior vice president and clinical director

CHC will use the funding to develop new patient-centered care models to address patients’ clinical and health-related social needs.

“Maternal healthcare really deals with two people, with moms and with children. It’s Maternal healthcare that provides behavioral and other kinds of physical healthcare during pregnancy and postpartum,” Blumenthal said.

Watch the story here.