Maternal, Child & Family Health

The Office of Women’s Health and Family Services’ Division of Maternal, Child and Family Health Services implements the Maternal and Child Health Services Title V Block Grant, which is responsible for the health and well-being of all of Illinois’ mothers, infants, children (including those with special healthcare needs) and their families.

The Maternal and Child Health Services (MCH) Title V Block Grant, part of the Social Security Act of 1935, is the oldest federal/state partnership to improve the health and well-being of all mothers, infants, and children, particularly children with special health care needs.

Every year, states are required to complete both an application for future funding and an annual report of the MCH activities from the previous federal fiscal year. Click below for drafts of the Illinois’ MCH Title V Block Grant 2025 Application/2023 Annual Report and the updated Illinois MCH Title V Block Grant Action Plan (2021-2025), which includes the IL Title V priorities, selected National Performance Measures, and strategies.

Public review of the below documents for comments or recommendations is requested and can be sent to Title V Coordinator, Cassidy Chambers, at Cassidy.Chambers@illinois.gov until 12:00 pm (central) on Monday, July 1, 2024.

Under Public Act 101-0445, effective January 1, 2020, the Medical Patient Rights Act was amended by requiring information about rights with regard to pregnancy and childbirth to be posted on this website.

In general, with regard to pregnancy and childbirth, every woman has the right to:

• receive health care before, during, and after pregnancy and childbirth
• receive care for her and her infant that is consistent with generally accepted medical standards
• choose a certified nurse midwife or physician as her maternity care professional
• choose her birth setting from the full range of birthing options available in her community
• leave her maternity care professional and select another if she becomes dissatisfied with her care
• receive information about the names of those health care professionals involved in her care
• privacy and confidentiality of records
• receive information concerning her condition and proposed treatment
• accept or refuse any treatment
• be informed if her caregivers wish to enroll her or her infant in a research study
• access her medical records
• receive information in a language in which she can communicate
• receive emotional and physical support during labor and birth
• freedom of movement during labor and to give birth in the position of her choice
• contact with her newborn
• receive information about breastfeeding
• decide collaboratively with caregivers when she and her baby will leave the birth site for home
• be treated with respect at all times before, during, and after pregnancy by her health care professionals
• examine and receive a reasonable explanation of her total bill for services

The exact language for the rights of women with regard to pregnancy and childbirth can be found under Medical Patient Rights of Women (found under Laws & Rules).

Illinois’ priorities for the MCH population, listed below, were developed by the Illinois Department of Public Health with input from a cross-disciplinary team of in-state experts using the qualitative and quantitative findings from the 2015 MCH Title V Block Grant Needs Assessment. This process is repeated every five years to assess the primary and preventive healthcare needs of Illinois women, infants, children (including those with special healthcare needs) and adolescents.

The below priorities are for the 2016-2020 period:

1. Assure accessibility, availability, and quality of preventive and primary care for all women, particularly for women of reproductive age
2. Support healthy pregnancies and improve birth outcomes
3. Support expanded access to and integration of early childhood services and systems
4. Facilitate the integration of services within patient-centered medical homes for all children, particularly Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN)
5. Empower adolescents to adopt healthy behaviors
6. Assure appropriate transition planning and services for adolescents and young adults, including Young Adolescents and Adults with Special Health Care Needs (YSHCN)
7. Assure that equity is the foundation of all MCH decision-making; eliminate disparities in MCH outcomes
8. Support expanded access to and integration of mental health and substance use services and systems for the MCH population
9. Partner with consumers, families, and communities in decision-making across MCH programs, systems, and policies
10. Strengthen the MCH capacity for data collection, linkage, analysis, and dissemination and improve MCH data systems and infrastructure

More information about this Federal/State partnership can be viewed here.

• Breastfeeding: Data: Breastfeeding Report Card | DNPAO | CDC
• How to Keep Your Breast Pump Kit Clean
• How to Clean, Sanitize, and Store Infant Feeding Items
• Proper Storage and Preparation of Breast Milk

• Maternal and Child Health Services Title V FY 2017 Application / FY 2015 Annual Report
• Maternal and Child Health Services Title V 2015 Needs Assessment/2014 Annual Application/2016 Application

• Medical Patient Rights of Women

• IL Infant Mortality Data Report
• 2020 IMMT Report to the General Assembly
• Title V Needs Assessment Overview
• FY2017 IL Title V Action Plan
• 2017 Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Advisory Committee Annual Report
• 2016 Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Advisory Committee Annual Report
• 2015 Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Advisory Committee Annual Report
• FY 2015 in Review
• 2015 Illinois Proclamation - Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Mammography Day
• Title V 2015 Needs Assessment Databook
• Fact Sheet: Mental Health Hospitalizations for Illinois Women of Reproductive Age
• Fact Sheet: Suicidal Behaviors Among IL Youth
• Fact Sheet: Postpartum Depression in Illinois
• Fact Sheet: Women and Opioids in Illinois
• Data Snapshot: Drug Poisoning and Opioid-Related Deaths among Illinois Women