2. The Baby Box Co. and Littauer collaborate to bring Baby Boxes to the Littauer community. Shown here is the first baby to receive the gift

GLOVERSVILLE, NEW YORK (February 15, 2017) – Nathan Littauer Hospital and The Baby Box Co. announced the launch of the Universal Safe Sleep program at Nathan Littauer Hospital.

“This program is a critical first step in reducing infant mortality,” stated Cheryl McGrattan, Vice President of Community Relations for the hospital. The new program is free to the new parents of the expected 340 newborns welcomed into the world at Nathan Littauer’s Birthing Center over the course of a year. Ms. McGrattan added, “According to our research, we are the first hospital in New York State to provide Baby Boxes to every family throughout the year.”

This program is focused on reducing the infant mortality rate in the U.S. which hovered around 6.5 percent in 2015 which is worse than all EU countries, Japan, South Korea, Australia and even Cuba. The innovative new program combines the Baby Box University information platform for new parents along with the proven safety of the Baby Box. Empowering parents and families with essential information for them to properly care for newborns is the heart of this new initiative.

Nathan Littauer’s Baby Box program is accessible to all expecting and new parents regardless of socioeconomic status. The Baby Boxes are available upon discharge from The Birthing Center.

The use of Baby Boxes has been associated with helping Finland achieve one of the world’s lowest infant mortality rates. The Finnish initiative, which enables every expecting woman in the country to claim a free Baby Box once she receives prenatal care and parenting information from a healthcare professional, is credited with helping to decrease Finland’s infant mortality rate from 65 deaths for each 1,000 children born in 1938 to 2.26 deaths per 1,000 births in 2015.

“What makes this program so unique is the focus on education” explained Maureen Mosher, RN, NLH Manager of Maternal Child Health, adding, “Every mother must watch a video syllabus in the prenatal stage to secure the box”. The multi-media parenting curricula called Baby Box University has video featuring local experts. The families will begin reviewing the syllabus in the prenatal stage. Upon completion, they are given a certificate which can be used to secure the free Baby Box.

3. An example of the Baby Box contents new babies will receive after being born at Nathan Littauer’s Birthing Center

The Adirondack Rural Health Network (ARHN), a program of Adirondack Health Institute, partially funded the Nathan Littauer Hospital’s Baby Box project, one of seven ARHN Prevention Agenda Projects, with support from the New York State Department of Health Charles D. Cook Office of Rural Health. “Providing families with a means to keep their newborn safe and secure is such a privilege,” said Margaret M. Vosburgh, CEO, Adirondack Health Institute. “We are grateful for the opportunity to support our partners at Nathan Littauer Hospital in this important work.”

The Baby Boxes themselves, which are made from durable cardboard and come with a firm mattress, waterproof mattress cover and fitted cotton sheet, are traditionally used in Finland as a baby’s bed for up to the first eight months of life.

Participants in the safe sleep program receive a Baby Box that contains the following items at Littauer:

Mattress

Waterproof mattress protector

Fitted sheet

Safe sleep sack

Pampers baby wipes

Pampers Swaddlers diapers

Lansinoh breast pads and nipple cream

Vroom baby brain boosting activity cards

Onesie

Board book

Thermometer

Infant Mortality Rate Stats:

• Approximately 3,500 infants die annually in the United States from sleep-related deaths, including sudden unexpected infant death (SUID); ill-defined deaths; and accidental suffocation and strangulation.
• The number of infant deaths initially decreased in the 1990s after a national safe sleep campaign but has plateaued in recent years.

The Baby Box Co. is Rooted from a Finnish Tradition:

• The use of Baby Boxes has been credited with helping Finland achieve one of the world’s lowest infant mortality rates. The initiative, which enables every expecting woman in the country to claim a free Baby Box once she receives prenatal care and parenting information from a healthcare professional, is credited with helping to decrease Finland’s infant mortality rate from 65 deaths for each 1,000 children born in 1938 to 3 deaths per 1,000 births in 2013, according to the World Health Organization.
• The success of the Finnish Baby Box intervention inspired the founders of The Baby Box Co. to adapt this tradition with enhanced multimedia parenting curricula through Baby Box University to the benefit of nonprofits, hospitals, government institutions and individual families worldwide.
• The Baby Box University program’s exponential growth has solidified the model as an impactful safe sleep and parenting education intervention for millennials.

About The Baby Box Co.

Entrepreneurs Michelle Vick and Jennifer Clary founded The Baby Box Co. to offer a safe sleep environment to babies everywhere. Through its Baby Box University platform, Baby Box Co. is an innovative, integrated program to support parents and improve maternal and infant healthcare outcomes globally. The Baby Box Co. partners with hospitals, government agencies and non-profit organizations to provide Baby Boxes, quality products, resources and ongoing education to families on a large scale. Baby Boxes are also available direct to consumer either as a standalone item or filled with new baby essentials. Serving families in 52 countries, The Baby Box Co. has offices in USA, UK, Canada, Australia and Singapore. For more information or to purchase a Baby Box, please visit www.babyboxco.com The Baby Box University education resource is at www.babyboxuniversity.com

About Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home

Nathan Littauer Hospital and Family of Health Services serves Fulton, Montgomery, and Hamilton counties in upstate New York with a full-service, 74-bed acute care hospital, nine primary care centers, a nursing home and a community education center. The hospital was founded in 1894 and has 1,000 employees. Littauer’s medical staff provides well over 100,000 patient encounters each year. For more information, please visit www.nlh.org.

1. The Hart family with the first baby to receive a Baby Box from Littauer