Read about Jeanine Valrie Logan’s efforts to bring the first birth center to Chicago’s South Side, addressing disparities in maternal health.
- Jeanine Valrie Logan, a certified nurse midwife, is working to open the first birth center on the South Side of Chicago, an area with a largely Black population that faces challenges related to pregnancy and childbirth.
- Logan is seeking permission from a state board to establish the birth center to provide high-quality and safe maternity care to women who are marginalized and lack access to quality care in the South Side community.
- Illinois lawmakers passed a bill in 2021 expanding the number of birth centers allowed in the state, and Logan has raised $1.9 million in funding for the nonprofit birth center, with the goal of delivering about 225 babies in its first year.
- The birth center will offer prenatal and other healthcare services, community classes on childbirth, breastfeeding, and other topics, and will focus on treating pregnancy and childbirth as wellness states rather than sick states.
- The birth center aims to address disparities in maternal health outcomes between Black and white women in the area, providing care closer to home for women on the South Side and reducing the need for long-distance travel for specialized care.
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Ob/Gyn & Women’s Health, Nursing, Public Health & Prevention