Research Thursday: An Evaluation of Scotland's Baby Box Program
July 13, 2023
Here is the citation.
McCabe R, Katikireddi SV, Dundas R, et al. The Health Impact of Scotland’s Baby Box Scheme: A Natural Experiment Evaluation Using National Linked Health Data. Lancet Public Health. 2023 Jul;8(7)e504-e510.
Here is the PubMed link. This is an open access article.
Here are some thoughts.
This is the evaluation of a national program that offers a box of essential items to all pregnant women in Scotland with a goal to improve infant and maternal health. This program, called Scotland's Baby Box Scheme (SBBS), alongside the original Finnish Maternity Package, are currently the only government-administered and non-commercial baby box schemes in operation. The researchers for this study analyzed 182,122 maternal-infant pairs -- all live singleton births 2 years before the start of the program (August 17, 2015) to two years after the start of the program (August 11, 2019).
How much does a box cost and what’s in it?
A box is valued at £298.
The cardboard box contains various items including an impressive assortment of clothes, books and toys. It is fitted with a foam mattress intended for the infant to sleep in. Information on breastfeeding and safe sleeping practices (e.g., infant sleeping position and tobacco smoke exposure) are provided within the box and on the Parent Club website associated with the scheme. Short video of the box