SCOTLAND’S new baby boxes are in high demand, with nearly 10,000 parents registering to receive one as the scheme is rolled out.
More than 500 have been delivered in the first week of the national launch, with deliveries prioritised for babies born prematurely and those who are due imminently to ensure parents receive their box as early as possible.
Deputy First Minister and Education Secretary John Swinney welcomed the “significant” uptake.
“The baby box is part of a range of measures to ensure that every baby born in Scotland is given the best possible start in life,” he said. “It has definitely captured people’s imagination, both at home and further afield, and I am extremely pleased to see the high number of parents already registering to receive their own baby box.
“Already 507 boxes have been delivered with many more on the way. I would like to thank our delivery partners who are working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure all parents in Scotland are able to receive their box as early as possible.”
All babies due on or after August 15 are eligible for a box. Safe sleep guidance is provided in a leaflet inside the box and safety guidelines are also printed on the box lid.
Each box is worth about £160, at a cost to the Scottish Government of £8 million a year. Designed to improve children’s life chances, they contain clothes, toys and a digital ear thermometer worth around £45, plus a fitted mattress and bedding so they can be used as temporary cribs in a bid to promote safe sleeping and reduce cot deaths.
However, the introduction of the boxes – which mirrors a Finnish programme – has been controversial, with some claiming the money could be better spent and others saying they will do nothing to prevent cot deaths, currently numbering about 18 each year in Scotland.
Scotland’s chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood said the scheme would be monitored to see if it had any impact on cot deaths and sleeping practices.
“Our safe sleeping message has always been that the baby should have a separate safe place to sleep with new mothers. So this baby box provides that,” said Calderwood.
Asked if some parents would register for the boxes in order to receive the expensive bath and digital thermometers then discard the rest, she said this would still be beneficial.
Scottish Labour supports the project in principle but Monica Lennon, the party’s inequalities spokeswoman, has argued that the boxes should also contain breastfeeding equipment to help boost Scotland’s low rates of breastfeeding.
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