Committee on Human Relations
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the health, safety, and well-being of the City of Chicago's residents are a primary concern for the City Council; and
WHEREAS, protecting mothers is a paramount public health function of the City of Chicago; and
WEHREAS, on October 18, 2018, the United States Surgeon General Jerome Adams spoke at a news conference at the University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Nursing about a report released by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) finding that African-American women were more likely to die from pregnancy-related conditions; and
WHEREAS, the report was compiled by a committee of health officials, health care providers, and advocates who analyzed 93 cases of women who died in 2015 while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy; and
WHEREAS, according to the report, African-American mothers are six (6) times more likely to die from pregnancy-related conditions; and
WHEREAS, the Illinois Deputy Director of the Health Department's Office of Women's Health and Family Services Shannon Lightner said, "going into this, we knew there was a disparity, but seeing the numbers is alarming;" and
WHEREAS, among the deaths found to be pregnancy-related, there were 72 deaths of non- Hispanic black women per 100,000 live births, 24 deaths of Hispanic women per 100,000 live births, and 11 deaths of non-Hispanic white women per 100,000 live births; and
WHEREAS, the committee found that the majority of the pregnancy-related deaths, 72% to be exact, were preventable; and
WHEREAS, among the preventable pregnancy-related deaths were women who died of blood clots, heart failure, hemorrhages, sepsis, and mental health conditions; and
WHEREAS, the report recounted that after delivering a healthy, full-term baby, Jasmine, an African-American woman in her twenties, visited the emergency room eight times complaining about leg pain she was experiencing and was told to use ice packs; and
WHEREAS, each time Jasmine visited the emerge...
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