For more than 75 years, Finland’s expectant mothers have been given a Baby Box by the state that serves as a starter kit for their new baby. It contains clothes, blankets, and other newborn necessities, and the Baby Box itself–which is lined with a mattress–is used as the child’s first bed.

At a glance, it seems a strange place to put a newborn – a bit of bedding and a miniature sleeping bag arranged in a cardboard box.

The programme started in the late 1930s, when nearly one out of 10 infants in Finland died in their first year. The Baby Boxes were a low- cost way to encourage women, especially those at the bottom of the income ladder, to see a doctor during pregnancy, whether they felt ill or not. The Baby Boxes provided a safe place outside of parents’ beds for infants to sleep, in homes that might have only rudimentary furniture.

With the mattress in the bottom, the Baby Box becomes a baby’s first bed. Many children, from all social backgrounds, have their first naps within the safety of the Baby Box’s four cardboard walls.

We were inspired by this wonderful tradition of not only gifting every child a great start in life, but also to raise awareness of SIDS ( Sudden Infant Death Syndrome ), and therefore introduced our very own version of a Baby Box in Singapore!