The Department of Public Health will receive $5.3 million in federal funds to support efforts to improve maternal health, the state’s two senators announced last week. [Health News Illinois] 

The dollars from the Department of Health and Human Services will help the state agency identify, review and characterize maternal deaths. They will also go toward prevention opportunities and the development of new treatments for pregnancy and postpartum complications.

“Despite being one of the richest and most advanced nations, the United States is facing a dire crisis when it comes to maternal health, particularly for women and babies of color,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

 An IDPH report released last year found that Black women in Illinois were three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related conditions as white women between 2016 and 2017. The number of white women likely to die from pregnancy-related mental health conditions grew during that same time. 

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