INFANT WELFARE SOCIETY OF CHICAGO 3600 W. Fullerton Avenue, Chicago, IL 60647 773.782.2800 fax 773.782.5042 info@infantwelfare.org
a healthy child
An integral part of our mission is to empower women to become active participants in their own health care. By educating women about health care, we can improve the health of entire families and ultimately the community.
Healthy babies start with healthy mothers. Infant Welfare provides women with the highest quality preventive and gynecological care, prenatal care during pregnancy and postpartum care. We also provide women with health education, disease prevention and mental health services.
The Whole Women’s Wellness (WWW) primary care model emphasizes tri-lingual (English, Spanish, Polish) patient education and other preventive measures that take all of a woman’s circumstances into consideration. Our more expansive definition of the healthcare team includes the patients themselves. Doctors, nurses, patients, and parents collaborate to create individualized wellness and treatment plans.
Each annual well-woman visit incorporates a provider’s exam, thorough health history, and preventive health education tailored to the behaviors and risk factors experienced by individual patients. We provide all asymptomatic screenings as recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Services aimed at prevention or early detection of breast and cervical cancer include clinical breast exams, self-exam instruction, and Pap smears, of which we performed 92% of annual well-woman exams last year.
Infant Welfare also provides access to a broad range of high-quality family planning services through a Title X compliant program. While IWS advises patients that the best protection against pregnancy is abstinence, we offer a range of contraceptive options. Every medication is accompanied by education on reproductive health and pregnancy options.
Those patients who do become pregnant are offered comprehensive pre- and perinatal care, including screenings; ultrasounds; lactation education; an appointment at the on-site dental clinic incorporating information on babies’ oral health; referrals to hospital birthing centers and any needed social services; prenatal vitamins; and enrollment in Healthy Steps, an early childhood development program.
WOMEN’S HEALTH
WHOLE WOMEN’S WELLNESS
WOMEN'S HEALTH . . .
10,273 visits to our women's clinic
Last year, 3,019 women 18 and over received prenatal, gynecological and basic health care during 10,273 visits to our women's clinic.
Thanks to a fund established by the IWS Auxiliary Chapter, uninsured patients now have access to breast cancer screening. Last year more than 421 women, who would not have otherwise had access to this life-saving diagnostic tool, received mammograms through this program.
DID YOU KNOW?