Women and Children
Our health begins before we are even born, in the womb, and depends greatly on our mothers' nine months of pregnancy (and maybe even before that). Our mother's life before we are born and her health while pregnant actually influence the onset of chronic diseases including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and obesity in our adult life. By providing excellent public health care and services for women and children, we will improving health for generations to come.
Women, Infants & Children (WIC)
Our staff provide nutrition education and supplemental nutritious foods to infants, children up to age 5, and pregnant, breastfeeding, and post-partum women through the federal Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.
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Resources:
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We're working to help your family get the nutrition you need.
Breastfeeding Support
Breastfeeding gives your infant the perfect food for the very best start in life. And there are plenty of health benefits for breastfeeding moms, also.
Our caring staff are committed to helping you succeed at breastfeeding your baby for as long as you wish to continue. We can help you locate a breast pump, nursing bras, and other breastfeeding supplies.
Our breastfeeding peer counselor will listen, answer your questions, and provide the support you need. Think of her as your personal cheerleader. She has breastfed at least one baby of her own and has taken a minimum of 16-hours of breastfeeding competency training.
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We're committed to helping you nourish your baby with nature's perfect food.
Pregnancy Testing
Our caring staff provide FREE confidential urine pregnancy testing and counseling on a walk-in basis. Results can be provided to you in the same visit.
Walk-in pregnancy testing:
Monday - Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.
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We're working with you to give your pregnancy the healthiest start.
Temporary Medicaid Applications
If you have a positive pregnancy test in our office, we can help you apply for Temporary Medicaid through Missouri's Department of Social Services' Division of Medical Services. Temporary Medicaid provides health care access to pregnant women who meet income guidelines.
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We can also help enroll your children in MoHealthNet.
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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) 2010 HR3590, or the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for short, was designed to provide more Americans with affordable, quality health insurance and accessible health care.
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We're helping people find access to affordable health care.
Prenatal Case Management
We offer prenatal case management to eligible, pregnant women to promote and encourage healthy behaviors that support the delivery a healthy baby.
A nurse follows the mother's health care monthly throughout her pregnancy and for sixty days after delivery. We can also provide one in-home follow-up visit after the baby is born.
The program is free to participants and provides:
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assistance with temporary Medicaid and applying for pregnancy Medicaid,
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information and referral to community agencies, and
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education on a topics like:
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prenatal care,
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gestational diabetes,
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high blood pressure,
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nutrition,
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breastfeeding,
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healthy lifestyle choices,
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harmful effects of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs to both mother and baby,
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safe sleep environment for baby,
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car seat safety, and
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postpartum depression.
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We're helping you navigate the journey of motherhood.
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Lead Poisoning Prevention
Lead poisoning is a serious concern for young children, and is usually caused by exposure to lead-based paint, routinely used on houses built before 1980.
Our nurses provide blood lead level screening for children from birth to six years old. It is recommended that all children in this age range be screened. Missouri requires children enrolled in MoHealthNet be tested before their second birthday.
When a child has elevated blood lead levels, our nurses will work with the family to identify where the lead exposure is coming from so it can be reduced or eliminated. The nurse will share information on lead poisoning and talk with the family about foods that can help reduce the child's blood lead level. The nurse will also help make sure the child has follow up tests on schedule.
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We're preventing and helping kids recover from the effects of lead poisoning.
Injury Prevention
Our agency works to prevent injuries by analyzing trends in child injuries and deaths. We can then work with our community partners to develop and implement programs and policies that will keep our children safer.
We protect infants from SIDS by providing parents with safe sleep education.
We work with our partners to encourage children to get more physical activity by walking to school and to protect children with safer bus stops.
We work with child care centers to ensure a safe, healthy environment for children while their parents work.
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We're working to prevent injuries and protect children in our community.
Child Care Health Consultation
Our professional staff is committed to helping child care providers offer the best possible care to our community's children.
We offer training and classes on a variety of health and safety topics, including nutrition, inclusion, physical activity, hand washing, toothbrushing, and immunizations. We also provide child-friendly programs that teach health and safety to children on-site at child care centers.
Our professional nursing staff and environmental public health specialists offer consultation for childcare providers and parents who have health and safety questions or concerns.
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Resource:
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We're helping ensure your child can thrive in a safe, healthy child care environment.
Parenting Safety Classes
Our trained staff offer safety classes for parents and caregivers of infants and toddlers.
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Most classes are free* and open to the public. Childcare providers can earn clock hours.
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For more information, or to register, call (573) 458-6010.
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We're working to give parents and caregivers the support they need to raise healthy children.
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*Classes that require proof of enrollment and/or completion for court or family services may incur a cost of $20.00 per class session.