Missouri provides comprehensive newborn health resources focused on early screenings and preventative care to ensure infants get a healthy start in life. These programs support families through every stage, from preconception health and prenatal monitoring to screening for over 70 different newborn disorders.
A Healthy Newborn
Every newborn deserves the opportunity to grow and develop into a healthy child. That’s what newborn health is all about. Since a baby’s health is strongly linked to the mother’s health before pregnancy, newborn health begins preconceptionally, before getting pregnant. Additionally, nearly half of all pregnancies are unplanned, so it is critical that all women capable of becoming pregnant maintain optimal health before, during and between pregnancies.
Screenings help to ensure your baby gets a healthy start in life. Newborn screenings protect infants from the dangerous effects of disorders that otherwise may not be detected for several days, months or even years. All babies born in Missouri are screened for more than 70 disorders, including hearing loss and critical congenital heart disease.
Count the Kicks is a simple way to monitor your baby’s movements. Expectant parents should begin counting daily at the start of the third trimester.