Imagine being an expectant mother in your second trimester, and not having to rush out to a crowded, over-priced baby store to hurriedly purchase everything your baby book says you NEED to have.
What if everything you’d need before your precious bundle of cuteness arrived came in a maternity gift box?
Via: Kela
And what if it was a free gift, courtesy of the government?
Sounds like a dream come true, right?
For the past 77 years, expectant mothers in Finland have excitedly awaited the arrival of their äitiyspakkaus — a maternity package granted by the Finnish social security institution, Kela.
Via: Reddit
The kit, which contains a variety of necessary children’s items like clothes, bedding, diapers, towels, and childcare products, is offered to all expectant mothers in Finland, regardless of income.
Via: Reddit
They don’t even have to worry about buying a fancy crib, because once they take out all the amazing baby products, the mattress at the bottom of the crib becomes baby’s first bed.
Via: Reddit
Via: The Baby Box Co.
And since every product in the maternity box is gender neutral, parents who become pregnant again can opt-out of the box, take a €140 grant, and reuse everything that came with the first box.
Via: Reddit
By now you’re probably wondering…what’s the catch?
Admittedly, the maternity box does have one little caveat: the mom-to-be has to see a pre-natal doctor before her 4th month of pregnancy.
But did we mention that Finland has one of the world’s most advanced welfare systems and universal healthcare?
Via: Reddit
The tradition of the Finnish maternity box dates back to 1938, when it began as a welfare program for low-income families.
Via: The Baby Box Co.
But in 1949, the box was offered to all Finnish expectant mothers, and new legislation meant that, in order to receive it, they had to get pre-natal care.
Via: Reddit
So not only did the boxes provide every baby in Finland with everything they could possibly need — plus products for mom, too — it also pushed pregnant women towards doctors.
Via: The Baby Box Co.
As Reddit user Grumpy Finn said when she shared her box…
It costs nothing. To get it, all an expectant mother needs to do is fill out a basic form and submit a certificate of pregnancy from her healthcare provider.
Via: Reddit
And that’s not even the best part of the whole thing…
This simple cardboard box has lowered Finland’s infant mortality rate to almost 0%.
In the 1930s, Finland was a relatively poor country, and infant mortality was at an all-time high for such a small nation: 65 out of 1,000 live births.
But since the introduction of the maternity box, that figure has dropped to 2.
You read that right: In the 77 years that the maternity box has been a part of Finnish culture, the infant mortality rate has plummeted from 65 out of 1,000 to 2 out of 1,000 — which, by the way, puts Finland in the 211th lowest spot out of 224 as of 2014.
Just for comparison, the United States ranks 169th.
Wouldn’t you love to get a maternity box with all these goodies?
Via: Kela
Maybe we should all just move to Finland!
Story via: BBC
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