TO its supporters, it is a symbol of Scotland’s egalitarian ethos. To the critics, a gimmick based on bad science with a spiralling price tag.
The Baby Box was a simple idea that has become something of a political football in Scotland’s polarised political climate. On the face of it, it is hard to see what could be so controversial about offering all newborns a box of basic items regardless of their parents income.
The initiative originated in Finland in 1938, initially only to low income families, before being rolled out to all. At the time, Finland was poor and infant mortality ran at 65 deaths per 1000. Today, it is around two per 1000 - half the UK rate.
Baby boxes have been cited as a factor in reducing cot deaths. Nicola Sturgeon, in the run up to last year’s Scottish election, said they had “been shown to have a real impact” and cited “reducing infant mortality” as one outcome. However, this claim was called into question by charity the Lullaby Trust when it warned (in response to private companies marketing them at a profit to parents in England) that there was “no evidence that directly links the use of the box with preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or reducing infant mortality”.
The statement played to SNP critics who feel the boxes - which have gone from £100 to £160 each - were little more than a desperate bid to ape a Scandanavian country the party admires as a model for independence.
It is not really a bombshell, however. US research has estimated that baby box schemes reduce bed-sharing by a quarter, and since this is a major risk factor for SIDS it might be expected to reduce cot deaths - but that is not proven. In Finland, academics have long stressed that it was not baby boxes per se but the introduction along with it of a maternity allowance, pregnancy clinics, regular health checks such as foetal heart monitoring, and high taxation to fund healthcare and welfare which have really helped turn a corner.
If the boxes are to improve health and reduce inequality in Scotland, their roll-out must be accompanied by a detailed evaluation with benchmarks for improvement. Only then can we judge whether they are delivering value for money.
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