SOUTH CHICAGO — A maternal and reproductive health care center on the South Side broke ground this week as organizers prepare for the culmination of years of planning and fundraising.

The Chicago South Side Birth Center, 8301 S. South Shore Drive, will renovate the former Morning Star Bible Baptist Church into three birthing suites and a reproductive health clinic with culturally relevant midwifery care. The nonprofit center is expected to open in early 2027.

The project broke ground Tuesday, with numerous state and local leaders in attendance including Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton, Mayor Brandon Johnson and Ald. Peter Chico (10th).

“We’re so honored that we have so many partners across the city that recognize how important it is for families to have access to community midwifery care,” said Jeanine Valrie Logan, the birth center’s founder and lead steward. “We were getting $5 donations, $1 donations — every little bit got us to this place here today.”

The South Side Birth Center’s midwives are expected to assist in about 225 births annually. In addition to birthing support, the center will offer reproductive healthcare for people as young as 13, preventative care like Pap smears, some primary care services, abortion services and gender-affirming care.

“Just as I tell my daughters the stories of the day they were born, I can only imagine the stories that will emerge out of this building — stories of no longer having to get on two or three buses to access the reproductive care you need and deserve, because now it’s available right here on the South Side,” Stratton said.

Jeanine Valrie Logan (in hard hat), founder and lead steward of the Chicago South Side Birth Center, greets supporters on April 7, 2026, following the groundbreaking ceremony outside the center, 8301 S. South Shore Drive in South Chicago. Credit: Maxwell Evans/Block Club Chicago

The $7.7 million project was awarded a $3.3 million Community Development Grant by the city last year.

The city grant covers “literally all the [remaining] construction needs that we have,” and will be used to fund everything from plumbing and electrical repairs to environmental, concrete and landscape work, Logan said last summer.

The project received its city construction permit Jan. 30 to renovate the former Morning Star Bible Baptist Church and build a two-story addition to the west of the existing building, as first reported by Chicago YIMBY. The birth center will be the first facility of its kind on the predominantly-Black South Side, where facility closures and a lack of birthing specialists have led to disparities in maternal health.

Black Chicagoans are nearly six times more likely than their white counterparts to die during pregnancy or within a year after birth, according to a 2019 study by the city’s health department.

“When this is open, we expect … babies and mothers to have access to care and dignity,” said Johnson, whose wife Stacie is a former doula. The birth center’s team “will ensure that families not just survive, but they thrive in their pregnancy and their childbirth experiences and have every opportunity to lead healthy and full lives.”

Since 2021, when planning for the center began — and when the state passed legislation growing the number of birth centers statewide — the South Side has benefitted from expansions of maternal care.

Illinois expanded the state’s doula and lactation consultant services in late 2024, while the University of Chicago began offering doula services last week through a partnership with startup Partum Health. Kennedy-King College will also debut a midwifery program this fall.

Amid these positive developments, postpartum health is one area in which South Siders would stand to benefit from additional investment, said Nikki Charisse, the center’s midwifery director.

“A lot of people are under the impression that, once you have the baby, ‘Oh yeah, I got it,’” Charisse said. “The postpartum doula is going to help keep the wheels on everything while you’re pumping at 3 in the morning, feeding the baby, taking a nap at 4 o’clock. … In that way, we can give people really resourced, bookended care.”

There’s still a long ways to go until residents can say they’re receiving truly equitable health care, including additional expansions of insurance and Medicaid to cover maternal health offerings, Logan told Block Club following Tuesday’s ceremony.

But the groundbreaking offered an opportunity to reflect on the gains already made to improve outcomes for South Siders, she said.

“This [center] is expanding our ecosystem for where we can get this kind of care,” Logan said.

Supporters cheer during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Chicago South Side Birth Center on April 7, 2026. Credit: Maxwell Evans/Block Club Chicago

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