“Doulas are really the experts at being able to support people emotionally and physically through this process of being pregnant, of labor and delivery and the initial postpartum period,” said Dr. Mary Tate of Cook County Health.

In addition to requiring the salary range being made public, the law also requires companies to internally post opportunities for advancement.

A newly announced program at Cook County Health will connect pregnant patients with doulas in an effort to address high rates of maternal mortality and birth complications that disproportionately affect Black women.

The study found Black women face more than double the rate of severe complications than White women. Additionally, living in high-poverty neighborhoods elevated maternal health risks across all racial groups.

Brown founded her first company and namesake, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, at a time when the industry rarely catered to a large array of skin tones. Her approach offered shades for women of every color, helping to establish a standard for inclusivity. 

The number of women in construction industry apprenticeship programs has remained mostly steady in the state, going from 3% to 5% since 2009, according to Illinois Department of Labor data. While there has been some progress in more women going into the trades, there’s more work to be done to help women stay in the trades, according to leaders in the industry.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a military veteran who has used the fertility treatment to have her two children, has championed the bill, called the Right to IVF Act. The bill would have also expanded access through insurance as well as for military members and veterans.

There were about 3.6 million babies born in 2023, or 54.4 live births for every 1,000 females ages 15 to 44, according to provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

The Illinois State Police do have a higher-than-average presence of women in law enforcement leadership, however. Women make up 14% of ISP’s leadership, according to an agency spokesperson. A new initiative aims to increase that number. 

Illinois has laws to protect against gender discrimination in pay, but it can be difficult for workers to know whether there’s a pay discrepancy. That may be easier to figure out starting next year.

It’s part of a nationwide increase in congenital infections, passed along to an infant during pregnancy. If undiagnosed, the baby can be born with a number of health issues, including cataracts, deafness and a low birth weight, or can even be stillborn.

A recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling is raising questions about IVF. In Illinois, the Reproductive Health Act protects the increasingly popular path to parenthood while establishing people’s right to make decisions about their own reproductive health.

The drug’s approval came despite some concerns by FDA scientists about the company’s results, including whether women with certain medical conditions would understand that they shouldn’t take the drug.

The nonprofit Chicago South Side Birth Center will mark the city’s second active midwife-led birth center, but the first for the South Side. Advocates say the Black-led center offers safe birthing alternatives in a medically underserved area of the city. 

The maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is two- to threefold greater than in other high-income countries, and it has only increased in recent years, according to a new evidence review.

“Some people feel it’s a stigma, and I don’t want people to feel like it’s a stigma,” state Sen. Cristina Castro said. “There’s great treatment out there. We’re just trying to help lower the barrier to that treatment.”