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Connecticut subcommittee reviews SA25-7 charge and membership while proceeding informally without quorum
Summary
Members of the Doula Friendly Hospitals Workforce and Access Subcommittee reviewed statute SA25-7, the required 18-member composition, and next steps for recruitment and data collection; the group held an informational session rather than an official meeting because it lacked quorum.
The Doula Friendly Hospitals Workforce and Access Subcommittee of the Maternal Health Task Force met in an informational session to review the statutory charge in SA25-7 and to discuss recruitment and next steps. Because the group lacked quorum, organizers treated the gathering as a planning conversation rather than a formal meeting.
Stephanie, a health program associate with the Office of Health Equity, summarized the statutory mandate: “It states that the commissioner of public health shall convene an advisory committee to conduct a study and make recommendations regarding the improvement of perinatal mental health care services and the benefits and challenges of making hospitals more doula friendly.” She said the task force split the work into two subcommittees—one focused on doula-friendly hospitals and the other on perinatal mental health—to enable deeper attention to each topic.
A later participant identified the legislatively required membership for the subcommittee, listing clinicians and public representatives required by statute: two individuals with current or past perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (or caregivers), a managed care representative, a registered nurse, a pediatrician, an OB-GYN, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a clinical social worker trained in postpartum support, a certified doula, a nurse-midwife, a representative from a home visiting program, a representative of a hospital association, and the commissioners (or their designees) of Children and Families, Public Health, and Mental Health and Addiction Services—17 distinct roles described, with two lived-experience seats bringing the total to 18.
Staff said they are actively recruiting to meet those statutory requirements, reviewing recommendations, and preparing appointment letters that will specify which subcommittees appointees will serve on. The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) indicated it will provide administrative support to help the subcommittee carry out its work, staff said.
Because the meeting was informational, there were no formal votes or motions. Stephanie told participants she would circulate a draft working document summarizing the subcommittee’s proposed tasks and an implementation tracker for feedback ahead of the next meeting, when the group expects to convene with quorum to consider formal actions.
The subcommittee flagged several procedural next steps: finalize appointments and appointment letters, inventory Connecticut birthing hospitals and their written policies on doula access, and prepare a standardized data-collection tool to validate outcome data that will inform recommendations to the commissioner.
The session closed with attendees agreeing to continue recruitment and to review the circulated draft before the next formal meeting.
