Why Finland’s Newborns Sleep in Cardboard Cribs

[Liberal_in_LA]

Finland provides all mothers-to-be with a baby box, but there’s a string attached. To receive it, the mother has to undergo a medical exam during the first four months of pregnancy.

Each year the government gives away about 40,000 of the boxes, which come with bedding and about 50 other baby items, including clothes, socks, a warm coat and even a baby balaclava for the icy Nordic winter. (Mothers who don’t need all those items can choose to get 140 euros instead, or about $155.)



The program started in the late 1930s, when nearly one of out 10 infants in Finland died in their first year. The boxes were a low-cost way to encourage women to set aside old habits and see a doctor during pregnancy. They also provided a safe place outside of parents’ beds for infants to sleep, in homes that might have only rudimentary furniture.

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There are efforts to extend the baby-box idea to a wider audience. A hospital in London recently began giving out the boxes on a trial basis. In Minnesota, a nonprofit group distributed the boxes to low-income families, inspiring a proposal being debated by state lawmakers. A graduate student at Harvard formed an organization to distribute similar kits in South Asia.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/07/world/what-in-the-world/finland-baby-box.html?module=WatchingPortal®ion=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=wide&state=standard&contentPlacement=3&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F07%2F07%2Fworld%2Fwhat-in-the-world%2Ffinland-baby-box.html&eventName=Watching-article-click&_r=0

[juxtaposed]

1. Minnesota has a large Finnish population

[proverbialwisdom]

2. More on Finland.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html

Finland's infant mortality rate ranks 7th BEST in 2015; the US is 58th.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parental_leave

Country - Finland

Maternity leave (weeks) - 18
Maternity leave (% of pay) - 70%

Paternity leave (weeks) - 11
Paternity leave (% of pay) - 70% (up to a ceiling)

http://mom.me/pregnancy/5336-maternity-leave-around-world/item/where-do-we-rank/

2011: http://www.euvac.net/graphics/euvac/vaccination/finland.html
2007: http://www.circumpolarhealthjournal.net/index.php/ijch/article/viewFile/18310/20999

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22751415
Satire: http://mom.me/baby/7734-why-americans-will-never-get-finnish-baby-box/

https://www.finnishbabybox.com/
...many other similar startups exist.

[SheilaT]

7. And the amount of maternity leave for the U.S. is misleading

in that only companies that have 50 or more employees are required to grant such leave.

I keep on hoping that reincarnation is real, because in my next life I'm going to choose an actual first world country to get born in.

[IronLionZion]

3. I had friends in Minnesota get something like that

a person came to their apartment and discussed basic baby care too. This was like 10 years ago.

[leftofcool]

4. What more do they need when they weigh less than 10 pounds.

Boxes look cozy to me.

[Denzil_DC]

5. South Africa, Zambia and Argentina have similar schemes,

and Scotland plans to introduce them this year.

[Brother Buzz]

6. Beats the banana box bassinet I had as a kid

My mom followed the instructions right out of a Red Cross book, but this whole package is much better.

[SheilaT]

8. That's wonderful.