When the program launched in 1949 the government gave mothers a choice.
Cardboard box baby bed finland.
Many children from all social backgrounds have their first naps within the safety of the box s four cardboard walls.
A recent survey found that just 37 percent of families there used the baby boxes as a sleeping place dr.
That s right the cardboard box that carries these essentials is not just any ordinary receptacle.
In finland baby boxes have had a dramatic impact.
You get the idea once the goodies are removed what remains is an inexpensive little baby bed to keep an infant on the floor right next to mama all night.
With the mattress in the bottom the box becomes a baby s first bed.
For decades the finns have given every new baby a big cardboard box filled with free diapers wipes warm clothes etc.
A portable bassinet for nightime or naps baby boxes are lightweight and sturdy cardboard boxes that expectant mothers in finland have been using as bassinets since the 1930s.
After they return home parents don t simply take out the more valuable sleeping items and discard the cardboard box.
Most parents in finland don t even use the boxes as a baby bed.
Even so that s the first place that many finnish infants lay.
Due in part to this maternity kit custom finland has one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world and other countries are taking notice.
Valley news live looked into the practice to see if it is really safe.
It s a growing trend to have your newborn sleep in a cardboard box known as baby box.
It s called the maternity box.
For 75 years newborn babies in finland have been sent home with a cardboard box full of essential sleeping items issued by the government.
At a glance it seems a strange place to put a newborn.
They could either receive 140 euros or a baby box stuffed with child.