Boone Health helps prepare new parents at Mid-Mo baby expo
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Saturday, Boone Health hosted its Mid-Mi Baby Expo, welcoming about 400 first-time and expecting parents for hands-on lessons focused on childbirth, infant safety and newborn care.
The event ran from 8 a.m. until noon.
Missouri has seen a slight rise in childbirths over the last few years, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
Throughout the day, parents took part in hands-on seminars covering everything from what to do if a baby is choking to basic newborn care, including diaper changes.
Attendees practiced everything from diaper changes to how to respond if a baby is choking. Families also got a closer look at what the delivery process can look like through demonstrations using a hospital delivery bed and newborn warming center.
For many parents, the event also helped calm some first-time nerves.
“I’m like a little anxious and nervous and all that. I’ve been around babies, but they’re not my babies, so it’s a little different this time around,” said Myranda Rivera, a Jefferson City resident expecting her first child this fall.
The expo comes as state data shows Missouri recorded a 1.3 percent increase in births last year, with nearly 68,000 babies born statewide, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
Data from March of Dimes also shows that over 1,000 babies are born in Missouri during an average week, while 143 are born preterm.
Boone Health Clinical Supervisor Brandy Templeton said the hospital delivers up to 120 babies each month.
She said fewer than 10 percent of those births require NICU care or additional medical support.
“A fraction of that need to go and stay down in the NICU, and typically those are babies that are born a little earlier than 37, 38 weeks. Those kiddos need a little extra help,” Templeton said.
Templeton said Boone Health cares for a wide range of mothers, including patients with high-risk pregnancies and pre-existing medical conditions.
“We take care of people that have no pre-existing conditions and are completely healthy. We have moms that are having babies a little older and may have pre-existing diabetes, high blood pressure and things like that that can complicate their prenatal care,” Templeton said.
According to March of Dimes, most births in Missouri between 2022 and 2024 were to women in their 20s and 30s. About 51 percent of births were to women ages 20 to 29, while roughly 42 percent were to women in their 30s.
State data also shows Missouri recorded fewer infant deaths in Jan. 2025 compared to the same month the year before. Twenty-four infants died in Jan. 2025, down from 42 in January 2024.
However, Missouri’s overall infant mortality rate still increased slightly in 2024. Preliminary state data shows Missouri recorded 6.3 infant deaths for every 1,000 live births in 2024, up from 5.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023.
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