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Cook County recognizes Maternal Health Awareness Day and Cervical Health Awareness Month
Summary
The board approved ceremonial resolutions recognizing Jan. 23 as Maternal Health Awareness Day and January 2025 as Cervical Health Awareness Month after testimony from physicians urging action on maternal mortality and cervical cancer disparities.
Cook County commissioners approved resolutions on Jan. 23 recognizing Maternal Health Awareness Day and declaring January 2025 Cervical Health Awareness Month.
Physicians and advocates urged the board to treat maternal health as a public-health emergency and to expand access to comprehensive reproductive and preventive care. Dr. Erica Hines, an OB-GYN who practices at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Planned Parenthood, said Black women “are 3 times more likely to die during or after childbirth than a white woman” and called for urgent action to address racism and access gaps in maternal care.
Dr. Shannon McLaughlin David, a gynecologic oncologist who chairs the research and policy subcommittee of the Illinois Special Commission on Gynecologic Cancers, spoke in support of the cervical-health resolution. She said cervical cancer remains a preventable disease with HPV vaccination and screening, but that “the rate of cervical cancer and death from it in Southside and Westside communities of Chicago are 2, 3, and sometimes 9 or 10 times higher” than wealthier neighborhoods. She recounted the case of a patient, Marquita, who chose treatment during pregnancy and later died; Marquita told her, “this must be happening to me so that I can prevent it for others.”
Both resolutions were introduced by Commissioner Donna Miller and were placed on the consent calendar; they were approved as part of the consent calendar vote. Commissioners and public speakers noted Cook County budget allocations to support reproductive-health services and urged continued and expanded access to preventive care, vaccinations and timely screening.
The resolutions are honorary recognitions intended to raise awareness and do not by themselves appropriate new county funds. Commissioners said they will continue oversight and are considering committee briefings and follow-up reports on maternal health outcomes and prevention efforts.
