Would you let your baby sleep in a box? Millions of mothers all over the world do every day! In fact, in Finland, where every new mom receives a Baby Box and educational materials, the rate of death from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is 50% of that in the United States.
Two months ago, armed with this knowledge, two of our social work interns, in collaboration with our Obstetrics (OB) Program, started a new Baby Box initiative for patients.
Through a non-profit called
Baby Box University
(BBU)
, each pregnant woman in our OB program can qualify for a free Baby Box. Our social work interns help patients complete educational videos and a short quiz on BBU's website. Once they pass the quiz a new box is shipped to the clinic and we distribute it to the patient.
"The perseverance and the desire to learn that our patients have is truly inspirational," says OB Program Coordinator Martha Santacoloma. "Each of our new moms is thrilled to have a safe, free way to care for their newborn infant."