Imagine if, after having a baby, you’re greeted with a full care package containing pretty much everything you need as a new mum. No shopping for nappies, play mats, blankets or cot sheets - it's all there for you in a neat little box.
At the start of 2017, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon helped trial a scheme in Clackmannanshire and Orkney where all newborn babies got a box with around 40 different - and super helpful - items. A play mat, a changing mat, a digital thermometer, a fleece jacket, several babygos, a hooded bath towel, a reusable nap and liners, a baby book and an organic sponge for bathing, to name a few.
It’ll cost the country around £6 million a year but, by the summer, the plan is to roll out the scheme to make sure that every single newborn in Scotland gets a box. Which is, we're sure you'll agree, pretty impressive.
Nicola Sturgeon said: "Scotland’s baby box is a strong signal of our determination that every child, regardless of their circumstances, should get the best start in life.
"The box contains around 40 different essential items for new babies and for parents.
"It’s a simple idea with a proven record in tackling deprivation, improving health and supporting parents, and I’m proud and excited that the pilot is now under way.
"Being a parent is the most important but also the most difficult job there is, so it’s important that parents get as much support as possible.
"The box complements the existing services available to help babies and parents to thrive in the crucial early months."
Originally an idea from Finland, where the boxes were rolled out in 1938 in an attempt to drive infant mortality rates down (it worked: its infant mortality rate is fifth lowest in the world), there are several low level baby box schemes in Canada, Australia and a few dotted around the UK - but nowhere near on the scale of Scotland’s efforts.
And they tend to be a little more commercialised too. While the [Baby Box Co.](http://baby box co) is available over here, it costs £79.99 for a ‘Classic Box’, and over at TheBabyBox.com, an "Ultimate Box" costs a whopping £250. In fact, there aren’t any significant, widespread schemes other than Finland and Scotland - although, in Ireland, Lidl are offering free boxes if you fill in this form, and trials are ongoing in Limerick, where around 5000 boxes have been given out.
For now, though, the UK will look to see how the scheme goes down in Scotland (we’re imagining pretty well!) and then perhaps we’ll start to see more baby boxes this side of the border. While the infant mortality rates in the UK are at an all time low (with Scotland's at around 4 deaths per 1000, and England and Wales averaging 3), this is more about helping children, as Nicola Sturgeon says, get the best start in life.
Low level trials have already started at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital; around 800 boxes were distributed last year to new mothers, to monitor the impact they had.
Fingers crossed it rolls out across the country - lord knows new mothers could do with a bit of a hand!
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