Bringing home baby: A resource guide for new parents in the Chicago area
From doulas to breastfeeding and postpartum support it can be overwhelming to find your care team as a first-time parent. This list can help you get started.
By Molly Morrow
Bringing home baby: A resource guide for new parents in the Chicago area
From doulas to breastfeeding and postpartum support it can be overwhelming to find your care team as a first-time parent. This list can help you get started.
By Molly MorrowNavigating the educational and social services available to new parents can be challenging. What programs are out there? Who’s eligible? And how do you apply?
These questions can feel overwhelming amid the myriad stresses and lifestyle changes that hit postpartum. Fortunately, the Chicago area offers a number of government programs, nonprofit organizations, and community-based resources that provide everything from medical care and mental health resources to educational resources for breastfeeding. Parents can also find organizations on this list that provide referrals for daycare and early education programs.
This guide is designed to give new parents a place to start, but it is not exhaustive. The intention is that it will take away some of the stress and confusion and provide a one-stop list of contact information. Have a recommendation that is not on this list? Tell us about it at First12Weeks@wbez.org.
Doulas and midwives
Start Early is a nonprofit with national reach that provides doula and home visiting services to new families, and it connects parents with early education programs. It is headquartered in Chicago and offers several novel programs here.
Location: 33 W. Monroe St., Suite 1200, Chicago; 312-922-3863
Email: Info@StartEarly.org
Chicago Birthworks provides doula services for families on the South Side, with a particular interest in supporting Black families during pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
Location: 1603 E. 55th St., Chicago; 773-675-4290
Email: info@chicagobirthworks.com
The Pilsen Wellness Center provides holistic and culturally-sensitive mental health services, doula services and services for teenage mothers.
Locations: Pilsen Wellness Center has a number of locations in Chicago. A list of locations and phone numbers can be found here.
Howard Brown Health is an LGBTQ-focused health care provider that offers doula services, prenatal and postpartum care, and breastfeeding support. It also offers a number of sources on queer family building, including orientation and support groups for artificial insemination.
Locations: There are a number of Howard Brown Health locations around Chicago, a list of which can be found here.
Phone number: 773-388-1600
Family Focus provides education for parents with children from pre-birth to five years of age, including doulas, home visits, and preschool. It also provides summer camp and afterschool programs, and has support programs for mothers, fathers, grandparents and immigrant families.
Locations: Family Focus has many locations in Chicago, as well as locations in Aurora, Evanston, DuPage, South Holland and Highland Park. A list of locations and their phone numbers can be found here.
Postpartum services and home visiting programs
UI Health Two-Generation Clinic
The UI Health Two-Generation Clinic provides primary care services to both mothers and their infants or toddlers in the same location. It also provides social support and care for high-risk patients, including a social worker who speaks English and Spanish.
Locations:
1801 W. Taylor St., Chicago
2600 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago; 312-492-0025
Phone number: 866-600-2273
Erie Family Health Centers provide a variety of prenatal, postpartum, and family planning and contraceptive services, including in-hospital labor, delivery and newborn care and breastfeeding support.
Locations: Erie Family Health has a number of locations in Chicago, a list of which can be found here.
Phone number: 312-666-3494
New Moms in Chicago helps provide stable housing, job training, academic coaching, prenatal education, home visits and peer support groups for new mothers.
Locations:
5317 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago
206 Chicago Ave., Oak Park
Phone number: 773-252-3253
Email: contact@newmoms.org
Family Focus also offers a home visiting program to caregivers with children from birth to 3 years of age.
Howard Brown Health locations on 63rd Street and on Clark Street offer OB/GYN services, including postpartum care.
Breastfeeding support
I PROMOTE IL is a project funded by the State Maternal Health Innovation Program at UIC. The group maintains a Linktree containing telehealth tips, contraception information, breastfeeding tips, information about infant vaccines and mental health resources.
UChicago Medicine Family Birth Center
UChicago Medicine, as part of the Comer Children’s Hospital, offers a Family Birth Center, which provides a number of postpartum care services, including practices to encourage bonding with a newborn and breastfeeding support. Parents can have their breastfeeding questions and concerns answered by a lactation consultant by calling the “Lactation Support Warm Line,” which can be reached at 773-702-8885, and can access a number of online resources about breastfeeding at this link. They also offer a breastfeeding support group, which mothers can register for here.
Location: 5721 S. Maryland Ave., Chicago; 773-702-1000
Phone number: 773-702-8885
Northshore University HealthSystem Breastfeeding Resource Center
The Northshore University HealthSystem offers patients who deliver at its hospitals breastfeeding classes, in-hospital consultations and pump rental and sale.
Locations: A list of Chicago locations can be found here.
Phone numbers:
Evanston Hospital: 847-570-2268
Highland Park Hospital: 847-480-3702
Rush University Medical Center
The Rush University Medical Center offers breastfeeding classes for expecting parents, lactation consultations and support group meetings.
Locations:
1620 W. Harrison St., 8th Floor, Chicago; 312-947-8850
2000 Ogden Ave., Aurora; 630-978-6290
Phone Number: 888-352-7874
The UI Health system provides prenatal breastfeeding classes, education for expecting parents and lactation consultation after birth.
Location: 1740 W. Taylor St., Chicago; 312-413-0233
Email: breastfeeding@uic.edu
Erie Family Health also provides breastfeeding support in person, by phone and via telehealth appointments. Support includes addressing common breastfeeding problems, assistance using a pump and storing milk and information on helpful breastfeeding supplies.
Child Care
Illinois Action for Children helps connect low-income families with childcare and financial assistance programs.
Locations:
1340 S. Damen, 3rd Floor, Chicago
1111 E. 87th St., Suite 400, Chicago
Phone number: 312-823-1100
Email: generalquestions@actforchildren.org
Chicago Early Learning is the City of Chicago-maintained hotline that allows parents to apply online and rank preferences for early learning programs for children aged 3 and up. Parents can apply for both Chicago Public Schools Pre-K programs and community-based programs that accept public funding. However, many private providers are not on this list and must be contacted directly.
Parents can apply online at this link.
Phone number: 312-229-1690
Marillac St. Vincent Family Services
Marillac St. Vincent Family Services provides early education services, short-term child therapy, resources for young mothers and more.
Locations:
Marillac Social Center, 212 S. Francisco Ave., Chicago; 773-722-7440
St. Vincent de Paul Center, 2145 N. Halsted St., Chicago; 312-943-6776
Family Focus also offers two preschool programs in Hyde Park and South Shore, as well as after-school programs and summer camp programs.
In addition to their direct service home visiting programs, Start Early also connects families with a national network of 25 educational programs for birth through five years of age.
Mental Health Services and Support Groups
Chicago New Moms Group is an in-person education and peer support group for new mothers, offering new mothers the chance to connect with and learn from each other, to share their experiences and receive education on topics like breastfeeding and sleep.
Location: 3759 N. Ravenswood Ave. Suite 119, Chicago; 773-340-2229
Email: info@chicagonewmomsgroup.com
Beyond the Baby Blues offers support groups for women experiencing depression and anxiety during pregnancy, as well as support groups for women who have experienced a miscarriage, stillbirth, or the loss of their newborn. Sessions take place over Zoom and meet once a week for six weeks. The program will pilot a Spanish-speaking support group beginning in May.
Phone number: 847-864-7957
Email: info@beyondthebabyblues.org
For questions about the Spanish-speaking support group:
Phone number: 773-742-6824
Email: gsinane@gmail.com
UIC Women’s Mental Health and Reproductive Psychiatry
The University of Illinois at Chicago provides a Women’s Mental Health and Reproductive Psychiatry service, including both inpatient and outpatient mental health services for women, as well as special services for pregnant women.
Location: 912 S. Wood St., Chicago; 312-996-2200
Rush University Medical Center Women’s Behavioral and Mental Health Services
Rush University Medical Center offers psychotherapy and other treatments for women struggling with mental health struggles such as unplanned or high-risk pregnancy, depression or anxiety during and after pregnancy and difficulty breastfeeding.
Location: 1645 W. Jackson Blvd., Westgate Building Suite 400, Chicago; 312-942-5932
4th Trimester Project, an initiative within the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work’s Jordan Institute for Families, has created NewMomHealth.com, aiming to create “a village for mothers,” and it provides a number of physical and mental health guides for new mothers. The 4th Trimester Project also has a “Meeting Mamas” program that provides tips for finding parents in your community, and offers privacy considerations when sharing parenting information and tips to combat negative comparisons with other new parents.
She Matters is an online platform providing resources and community for Black mothers. They provide a limited amount of free therapy services as well as educational resources and a directory within their app of culturally competent health care providers.
I PROMOTE IL also provides information on warning signs for postpartum depression, postpartum depression in Illinois, emotional support tips for breastfeeding parents, and the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline, which can be reached at 1-833-943-5746.