Express & Star

'Baby boxes' to be handed out to new parents during scheme for newborns in Sandwell

Families who have their baby at hospitals run by Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust will be the first in the region to receive a Finnish-style Baby Box for their newborn to sleep in.

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The tradition, which originates from Finland, has been credited with reducing the infant mortality rate in the country from 65 infant deaths per 1,000 births in 1938 to 2.26 per 1,000 births in 2015.

The UK has some of highest rates of infant mortality in Europe, ranking 22nd out of the 50 European countries with 4.19 deaths per 1,000 births.

The Baby Boxes, which are made from a special, durable cardboard and come with a firm mattress, waterproof mattress cover and 100 per cent cotton sheet, are traditionally used in Finland as an infant's bed for up to the first six months of their life.

Families receiving a Baby Box will have access to the Baby Box University, a comprehensive maternal and childcare education platform, during their pregnancy.

Developed with leading medical experts around the world, Baby Box University enables each of its healthcare partners to customise the educational content to suit local need.

The Trust's Baby Box University provides women and their partners with videos, made by its team of midwives, health visitors and doctors, to help reduce the risk of infant mortality during pregnancy and the first year of life.

Elaine Newell, director of Midwifery at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "Campaigns in the past to advise parents on the best way to put baby down to sleep, such as 'Back to Sleep' and 'Foot to Foot' where babies feet should touch the end of their crib have been successful, but we are still losing babies to cot death.

"We know that in some of these cases baby has been sleeping with siblings or in bed with parents, so in this instance we anticipate the baby box will make an enormous difference.

"But this programme offers so much more than a free bed to baby.

"It is the Baby Box University which offers such an exciting resource, as we can target our educational short films directly to the population we serve, and the films are all of our own staff, so we can talk directly to our families."

Kerris Percival, family nurse supervisor at the Trust, added: "We are excited to be the first hospital Trust in the West Midlands to be working with The Baby Box Co.

"Women in Sandwell and West Birmingham will have the opportunity to receive a baby box along with access to educational materials from The Baby Box Co."

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust's chief executive Toby Lewis tweeted about the project.

He wrote: "Boxes everywhere, with babies in, at launch of Baby Boxes – leading the West Midlands here @BCHBoss

"Chairman reminding everyone that Baby Boxes is a partnership effort – as is typical @SWBHnhs. @SWBCCG thanked for their role in getting Baby Boxes off the ground here – innovation at speed."

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