SCOTLAND has a "unique opportunity" to test whether baby boxes can reduce cot deaths by encouraging parents to rethink their sleeping arrangements with a newborn, a charity leader has said.

Lynsay Allan, executive director of the Scottish Cot Death Trust, welcomed the roll-out of the initiative from today but admitted that there is currently "no evidence" on the benefits it will deliver.

Ms Allan stressed that a large-scale evaluation - which her charity would be involved in - would shed light on whether the scheme deterred parents from unsafe practices, such as sharing a bed with their infant.

She said: "We know that a box in and of itself cannot do anything to impact on infant mortality. But through evaluation we hope to learn whether the boxes and raising awareness of safe sleep has any kind of impact of parents' decisions about where and how their babies sleep. That's not something that will happen overnight - we'll really need to do quite a large-scale evaluation of these boxes.

"It's an opt-in so women register if they want to receive a box. That in itself means they have to have some discussion with a health professional, so at that earliest opportunity there can at least be that discussion - not just about safe sleep, but about safe infant care practice.

"We don't know yet what form that [evaluation] will take but it's important for us as an organisation because there is no evidence base around boxes. In Finland, when these boxes were introduced, no one was really thinking about infant mortality and the wider remit of infant care practices - it was really a case of trying to engage women in antenatal health care.

"So we have a unique opportunity in Scotland to see what impact they have around infant care practice and choices that parents make."

It comes after the cot death charity, the Lullaby Trust, raised concerns that the boxes were being marketed on the basis of unfounded claims they reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The charity - which only operates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - has since stressed that its statement was made in response to private companies selling the boxes, not the Scottish Government scheme, but said the link drawn to cot death "can be confusing to parents given that there is no evidence that directly links the use of the box with preventing SIDS or reducing infant mortality".

The £160 baby boxes, which will be made available to all newborns from today, contain items such as clothes, books and blankets. The Scottish Government said the scheme would help tackle inequality and improve health. The national roll-out follows pilot projects in Orkney and Clackmannanshire which started in January.

Lucy Hunter Blackburn, an Edinburgh University researcher and outspoken critic of the baby box policy, said it would have to be matched by careful analysis to assess whether it was effective as a public health intervention.

She said: "I hope very much that the roll out is being accompanied by a proper structured evaluation of its impact, because it is a significant new and permanent responsibility. It's important that we've got good baseline data with which you can then compare it, and that the government is clear about what kind of impact it wants to accomplish."

Scotland's chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood said early evaluations of the pilot projects indicated that the boxes were "helping raise awareness of safe sleeping practices". She added: "We are committed to evaluating how the Baby Box is helping families across Scotland."

In Finland, baby boxes have been distributed for 75 years and have been praised as one of the factors behind the nation's low infant mortality rate. However, it was also accompanied by increase medical and welfare support.

Mark McDonald, Minister for Childcare and Early Years said: “We are committed to doing everything we can to give every baby born in Scotland the best possible start in life and the Baby Box is just one of the range of measures we are using to help babies and parents thrive in the crucial early months. The Box includes a large number of items which are not only practical but designed to help tackle inequality and improve health. It can also be used as a safe sleep space and has been awarded British Safety standard accreditation as a crib for use at home."