Missouri Show-Me 5 Hospitals

The hospitals below have been recognized as Missouri Show-Me 5 Hospitals in honor of the dedication and hard work their staff have put into improving breastfeeding maternity care practices for Missouri moms and babies. The Department of Health and Senior Services is proud to celebrate this accomplishment!

The five steps of the Show-Me 5 Hospital Initiative are the steps that have the biggest effect on breastfeeding initiation and duration. These hospitals have adopted these five steps of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, which assist mothers in meeting their feeding goals. Adopting five of the ten steps is an effective way for hospitals to work towards Baby-Friendly designation. Missouri hospitals should strive to achieve all ten steps, which are associated with increased breastfeeding rates around the world.

The Missouri Show-Me 5 Hospital practices are:

  • Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth by placing baby skin-to-skin with mom and offering education and support.
  • Practice rooming in, allowing infants to stay in the same room as their mothers, so that mom and baby have plenty of chances to learn to breastfeed.
  • Give breastfed infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated or requested by parents.
  • Do not give pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants. Use other feeding methods if a supplemental feeding is medically indicated or requested.
  • Establish breastfeeding support groups or coordinate with community support and refer mothers to support at discharge.

Missouri “Show-Me 5” Hospitals

* Hospital has also completed the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding through the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative.