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).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re 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,\u201d said Jeanine Valrie Logan, the birth center\u2019s founder and lead steward. \u201cWe were getting $5 donations, $1 donations \u2014 every little bit got us to this place here today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The South Side Birth Center\u2019s midwives are expected to assist in\u00a0about 225 births annually<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n \u201cJust 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 \u2014 stories of no longer having to get on two or three buses to access the reproductive care you need and deserve, because now it\u2019s available right here on the South Side,\u201d Stratton said.<\/p>\n The $7.7 million project was awarded a $3.3 million\u00a0Community Development Grant by the city last year<\/a>. <\/p>\n The city grant covers \u201cliterally all the [remaining] construction needs that we have,\u201d and will be used to fund everything from plumbing and electrical repairs to environmental, concrete and landscape work, Logan said last summer.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>. The birth center will be the first facility of its kind on the predominantly-Black South Side, where\u00a0facility closures and a lack of birthing specialists<\/a>\u00a0have led to disparities in maternal health.<\/p>\n Black Chicagoans are nearly six times more likely than their white counterparts to die during pregnancy or within a year after birth,\u00a0according to a 2019 study by the city\u2019s health department<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen this is open, we expect \u2026 babies and mothers to have access to care and dignity,\u201d said Johnson, whose wife Stacie is a former doula. The birth center\u2019s team \u201cwill 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Since 2021, when planning for the center began \u2014 and when the state passed legislation growing the number of birth centers statewide<\/a> \u2014 the South Side has benefitted from expansions of maternal care.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MG_6686-1024x683.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MG_6639-1024x683.jpg\")
Supporters cheer during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Chicago South Side Birth Center on April 7, 2026. Credit: Maxwell Evans\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n