CHICAGO – Rocking chairs, birthing tubs and changing tables haven’t yet been ordered, but organizers in suburban Chicago are eager to start furnishing their birth center – which may become the first such facility in Illinois.

The birth center at PCC South Family Health Center needs a permit and a license. But these steps seem within reach after years of work by supporters of options for Illinois women with low-risk pregnancies. Birth centers operate in 37 other states. Organizers said they’ve been a long time coming to Illinois.

A state health planning board is set to consider on Feb. 5 whether to grant the first permit to PCC, a nonprofit health center in suburban Chicago that already provides primary care, dental care and behavioral health services. No letters of opposition have been filed about the project.