Returning Home and Caring for Your Newborn
As you prepare to return home, it’s important to us that you feel confident about caring for your baby once you leave the hospital. While you are still at the hospital, we offer our new moms a number of support services to help in the process:
- Your personal nurse and a lactation consultant are available to assist you with feedings and any mother-baby challenges that you may be experiencing.
- We give you a booklet to take home that contains all of the mother-baby care guidelines that we provided while you were in the hospital.
- We also give you a resource card filled with important phone numbers for the hospital, physicians and resources that you may need.
- Finally, to ensure the continuity of your care, one of our OB nurses will check on you with a follow-up phone call after you and your baby have been discharged.
After you have returned home, you may want to attend our Mom’s MoBap Morning support group. Additional opportunities for continuing education are offered through our Childbirth Center. These are designed specifically for new parents. For more classes and support groups, please visit the ‘My Guide to Classes’ section of our web site.
To help you feel more prepared when you return home, we have outlined a number of things to help you with your baby, including:
Birth Certificates:
A birth certificate takes at least 2-4 weeks to be completed by the State of Missouri. Once the state has completed the birth certificate, they notify Social Security. This only happens if the parent(s) give permission on the worksheet that is completed at the hospital for Social Security.
You can request a copy of your baby's birth certificate in one of three ways
To obtain a birth certificate by mail, the application for a Missouri Vital Record must be downloaded from the state’s website and filled out. It takes 8-12 weeks to receive the birth certificate. It requires notarization before being mailed with a check for $15.00 to:
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Bureau of Vital Records
930 Wildwood Dr.
Jefferson City, MO 65109
To obtain it in person, go to one of the locations listed below. You must have an issued identity document with a name and/or signature. Identification (ID) documents are issued by the U.S government, a school, place of employment, etc. This includes a current driver’s license.
St. Louis County Vital Records Office
6121 North Hanley Rd.
Berkeley, MO 63134
314-615-1720
Downtown St. Louis (Inside St. Louis City Hall)
1200 Market St., Room 126
St. Louis, MO 63103
636-949-7558
St. Charles County
1650 Boone’s Lick Road
St. Charles, MO 63301
636-949-7558
Jefferson County Health Department
Arnold Office:
1818 Lonedell Road
Arnold, MO 63010
636-282-1010
Hillsboro Office:
405 Main St.
Hillsboro, MO 63050
636-797-3737
To obtain it online for an additional fee visit https://health.mo.gov.
You should receive your baby's Social Security number in about 8 weeks if you have given permission. Any questions or concerns regarding your baby's Social Security card, call (800)772-1213. The Birth Certificate Office at Missouri Baptist can be reached at (314)996-5746.