by Karla Ciaglo
According to Connecticut’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee, nine out of ten pregnancy-related deaths between 2015 and 2020 were preventable. That finding is at the center of a new statewide initiative that equips postpartum patients with bright orange silicone bracelets stamped “I Gave Birth” to help clinicians and first responders recognize complications quickly.
The bracelets are distributed at discharge from birthing hospitals and are meant to be worn for 12 weeks postpartum — the period the state review committee identified as the highest risk window. During the 2015–20 review period, Connecticut averaged 15.6 pregnancy-related deaths for every 100,000 live births, with more than half occurring after delivery. Mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, substance use, and perinatal psychosis, were the leading cause of death.
National data show the same patterns. In 2023, the U.S. maternal mortality rate was 18.6 deaths per 100,000 live births, but the rate for Black women was 50.3, nearly three times that of white women. Connecticut’s review committee has found similar disparities, with Black mothers consistently overrepresented in maternal deaths.
Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani said the bracelet is meant to help close a recognition gap after discharge.
“A woman’s body undergoes tremendous changes during pregnancy and childbirth, and proper healing takes time,” she said. “Complications like infections, excessive bleeding, blood clots, or problems with cesarean section wounds can be serious. Wearing these bracelets will tell emergency responders and healthcare workers to look out for urgent maternal warning signs.”.
The initiative grew out of pilot programs at Hartford HealthCare and Trinity Health of New England, which had each begun testing bracelet programs separately. Similar efforts had already been underway in other states.
In Alabama, a 2024 pilot distributed bracelets reading “I Just Delivered” with the goal of reducing readmissions. In Illinois, hospitals have used orange bracelets together with EMS and emergency department training. In Connecticut, the Connecticut Hospital Association and the Connecticut Perinatal Quality Collaborative moved to unify the model so that all hospitals used the same color, and message, not just statewide, but nationally.
Kelly Reddington of Hartford HealthCare, who helped launch the pilot, said the bracelets are as much about advocacy as clinical care.
“It empowers patients to say, ‘I just gave birth, take this seriously,’” she said .
Connecticut expanded HUSKY Medicaid coverage to 12 months postpartum in 2022, ensuring mothers retain insurance coverage well beyond the traditional six-week checkup. Hospital leaders say the bracelet initiative builds on that policy and is connected to a broader maternal health strategy adopted by CHA. That strategy includes four areas of focus: addressing social drivers such as racism and economic inequality, expanding access to perinatal mental health services, ensuring that patients have a voice in their care, and improving data collection to monitor whether interventions are reducing deaths and disparities .
The emphasis on patient voice is reflected in Reddington’s description of the bracelet as a tool for empowerment. The focus on mental health links to MMRC findings that psychiatric conditions are now the leading cause of maternal death in Connecticut, with suicide and overdose accounting for up to 20 percent of pregnancy-associated deaths nationally . Advocates and CHA leaders have said the program will only succeed if bracelets are recognized not just in emergency departments but in community settings, and if referrals lead to timely care.
Hospital officials also stress the need for data. They have said outcomes would be tracked by race, geography, and insurance status to evaluate whether the bracelets are reducing preventable deaths or leaving gaps unaddressed .
“When a postpartum patient wearing (a bracelet) shows up in the emergency department or even experiences a medical event in the grocery store, responders know to ask the right questions,” Jackson said. “Recognizing urgent maternal warning signs quickly means the patient gets help faster.”