Cardboard box for baby could cut cot death

NEW parents are being given cardboard boxes for their babies to sleep in as part of a hospital trial aimed at reducing cot death.

The small box with a foam mattress is said to prevent babies from rolling on to their stomach, which experts say increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). So-called “baby boxes” are popular in Finland, where they have been credited with cutting infant mortality rates from 65 per 1000 in 1938, to 2.3 in 2015.

Britain ranks 22nd out of 50 Euro- pean countries for infant mortality rates, with 4.19 deaths per 1,000 births. Nearly 300 babies die each year in Britain as a result of SIDS.

Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital in west London is handing out the boxes to new families. The boxes, with a firm foam mattress, waterproof mattress cover and cotton sheet, are being given to 800 new mothers. They are filled with nappies, clothes and other necessities.

Dr Karen Joash, consultant obstetrician at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital, said: “For too many years the UK has fallen behind its European counterparts when it comes to reducing infant mortality.”

The babies will be monitored by the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust until they are eight months old and their parents asked to fill in a questionnaire about their use of the box.