Baby boxes: expert raises safety concerns

Infant death prevention medic urges Scottish Government to stop promoting box as crib

A cot death expert has raised safety concerns about baby boxes.

Peter Blair, who chairs an international body on the study of infant deaths, urged the Scottish Government to stop promoting the box itself as a default place to sleep. The Bristol academic said it should only be used as a cot as a last resort.

Scottish ministers, backed by the country’s chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood, have repeatedly said the box is “designed to provide a safe sleep space for babies”. The boxes, which contain clothes, books and bedding, are distributed free to every newborn in Scotland and have been widely praised.

Dr Blair, who is based at Bristol University’s medical school, is chairman of the International Society for the Study and Prevention of Perinatal and Infant Death. In a draft statement to the Scottish Government, obtained by a daily newspaper, he told ministers they should only promote them as cots for emergency use.

“They shouldn’t be advocating infants sleep in these boxes unless there isn’t anything else available,” Dr Blair said.

He added: “I’m not saying don’t use the baby box, I’m just saying that you’ve got to be careful with the advice of how much you can promote it as a safe sleeping space.”

Meanwhile, the British Standards Institute said that full safety accreditation for cardboard baby boxes is not yet available in the UK, despite the Scottish Government claiming to have secured it.

Miles Briggs, the Tory MSP, said there are “extremely serious questions for the SNP Government to answer”.

Labour MSP Mary Fee said: “The Scottish Government needs to ensure these boxes are safe as a matter of urgency.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “There is no evidence to suggest the baby box is unsafe and we are in ongoing discussions with Peter Blair about his concerns.

“The baby box meets British safety standards and was awarded British safety standard accreditation as a crib for domestic use – the first non-commercial box in the world to do so. We will ensure that Scotland’s baby box complies with the new standard once it is developed.

“As the material issued with the baby box makes clear, the baby box, and its associated bedding, is intended to offer a safe sleeping place when used in accordance with other safe sleeping practices.”

Picture: Steven Brown. The baby box should only be used as a cot as a last resort, says an expert in the study of infant deaths.