“Mental health conditions” topped the list of leading underlying causes of pregnancy-related deaths.  An Illinois Department of Human Services program has begun to take on that challenge.

Each year, 700 mothers die from pregnancy related causes in the United States, and the maternal mortality rate is getting worse.  America is the only industrialized nation in the world trending in the wrong direction. We talked wth Illinois experts about what's being done to reverse the trend.

A state mandate requires all pregnant women in Illinois be screened for depression as part of their prenatal care. But new research study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign finds that those screenings may overlook a significant proportion of women who have suicidal thoughts. 

Women in the Illinois Senate want to address a surge in maternal deaths related to childbirth.

Across the United States, an alarming number of women die during pregnancy or childbirth. And for each one who dies, dozens wind up with health problems that can last for years. Now women are being encouraged to watch what happens in the "fourth trimester."