"Show-Me 5" Initiative

The benefits of breastfeeding are well established and medical authorities agree breastfeeding is the optimal way to feed an infant. Birth facility policies and practices significantly impact whether women choose to breastfeed and how successful they are in reaching their infant feeding goals. The U.S. Surgeon General’s 2011 Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding cited hospital practices as a leading barrier to successful breastfeeding.

Missouri "Show-Me 5" Hospital Initiative

Taking the First Steps to Being Baby Friendly

Evidence-based maternity care practices are shown to support breastfeeding initiation and duration. Adherence to the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative is associated with increased breastfeeding rates around the world. While Missouri hospitals should strive to achieve all ten steps, research shows that adopting the five (5) steps of the Missouri “Show-Me 5” Hospital Initiative will assist mothers in meeting their feeding goals, and may offer an effective path to an incremental adoption of evidence-based maternity care practices.

The Missouri “Show-Me 5” hospital practices are:

1. Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth.
2. Practice “rooming-in”, allowing infants to stay in the same room as their mothers.
3. Give infants no food or drink other than breast milk, unless medically indicated.
4. Do not give pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants.
5. Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge.

The Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria provides specific information on each of the Missouri “Show-Me 5” hospital practices and how to evaluate that a birthing facility meets the criteria. The Self-Appraisal Tool is used for birthing facilities to review current maternity care policies and practices in optimal feeding and help assess where their facility is in the process.

Missouri “Show-Me 5” Hospitals

• Hannibal Regional Hospital* - May 2012
  6000 Hospital Drive, Hannibal
• Capital Region Medical Center - January 2014
  1125 Madison St., Jefferson City
• Mercy Hospital Springfield - March 2014
  1235 E. Cherokee St., Springfield
• University Health Truman Medical Center* - May 2014
  2301 Holmes St., Kansas City
• Fitzgibbon Hospital - July 2014
  2305 S. 65 Highway, Marshall
• University of Missouri Women's Hospital* - October 2014
  404 Keene St., Columbia
• Liberty Hospital - October 2014
  2525 Glenn Hendren Drive, Liberty
• Lake Regional Health System - January 2015
  54 Hospital Drive, Osage Beach
• SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital - October 2015
  2505 Mission Drive, Jefferson City
• Mercy Hospital Lebanon - February 2016
  100 Hospital Drive, Lebanon
• Barnes Jewish Hospital* - October 2016
  1 Parkview Place, St. Louis
• Cox Medical Center South - January 2018
  3801 S. National Ave., Springfield
• Cox Medical Center Branson - January 2018
  525 Branson Landing Blvd., Branson
• St. Luke’s East - May 2018
  100 NE. Saint Luke’s Blvd., Lee’s Summit
• University Health Lakewood Medical Center* - June 2018
  7900 Lee’s Summit Road, Kansas City
• Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center* - September 2018
  3100 Oak Grove Road, Poplar Bluff
• St. Luke’s North* - November 2018
  5830 NW. Barry Road, Kansas City
• Hedrick Medical Center - June 2019 - July 2023
  2799 N. Washington St., Chillicothe
• SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital-St. Louis* - October 2019
  6420 Clayton Road, St. Louis
• SSM Health St. Clare Hospital-Fenton* - April 2023
  1015 Bowles Ave., Fenton
• SSM Health DePaul Hospital- St. Louis* - July 2023
  12303 DePaul Drive, Bridgeton
• SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital- Lake Saint Louis* - December 2023
  101 Medical Plaza, Lake Saint Louis
• Mercy Hospital St. Louis - January 2024
  615 S. New Ballas Road, St. Louis

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

Facilities ready to apply should complete the Application for the Missouri “Show-Me 5” Hospital Initiative and send to the contact on the application. If you have questions or would like a printed copy of the Missouri “Show-Me 5” Resource Kit, please contact Lisa Schlientz, State Breastfeeding Coordinator, at Lisa.Schlientz@health.mo.gov or by phone at 573-751-6468.