Baby Kits and Infant Mortality (July 1, 2014)
Recently I stumbled upon an article discussing the very dramatic decline in Finland's infant mortality rate (that's for children under one year old) to the degree where it is now one of the lowest in the world. This trend began in the 1930s and coincides with a policy that was instituted at that time, which is this -- every new mother is sent home with a comprehensive baby kit. The intention is to give every Finnish baby a good start in life.
After reading about this, I thought I’d try to find out what Vanderbilt sends home with its new mothers. It's -- nothing. At least that’s what the lady who answered the phone at the nursery said, before she panicked and told me that I’d better talk to the manager instead, who told me the same thing. However, I am not picking on Vanderbilt Hospital -- a little more research quickly told me that American hospitals don't issue any kind of baby kit. Hey, just because you are spending approximately $30,000 on your pregnancy, uncomplicated delivery and newborn care, you think maybe you should get a free bottle of baby shampoo? You freeloader, you!
Of course you can go online and scrounge freebies (mostly coupons) from baby supply companies of various sorts that are eager for your business, because of course if there’s one thing that new mothers have a lot of, it’s extra time, right?
The Finnish government gives that new baby kit to every expectant mother regardless of income who sees a doctor before the end of her second trimester; which means that every pregnant woman sees a doctor at least once so she can get the box. There's nothing fancy in it -- it’s got bodysuits, a sleeping bag, outdoor gear, diapers, bathing products for the baby, bedding and a small mattress for the box which becomes a crib after you empty it out. And a picture book and teething toy.
I’m not saying that we should have a similar practice here in the United States, because that would be Socialism. I'm not saying that doing this might raise us from the shameful position of being 30th in the world in infant survival. And I’m not even saying that there’s anything wrong with us having the highest death rate among all the industrialized countries of babies in the first day of life – 50% more deaths than all the other industrialized countries in the world COMBINED. I’m, you know, just saying.
--dr. diane holmes
Copyright © 2014
Recently I stumbled upon an article discussing the very dramatic decline in Finland's infant mortality rate (that's for children under one year old) to the degree where it is now one of the lowest in the world. This trend began in the 1930s and coincides with a policy that was instituted at that time, which is this -- every new mother is sent home with a comprehensive baby kit. The intention is to give every Finnish baby a good start in life.
After reading about this, I thought I’d try to find out what Vanderbilt sends home with its new mothers. It's -- nothing. At least that’s what the lady who answered the phone at the nursery said, before she panicked and told me that I’d better talk to the manager instead, who told me the same thing. However, I am not picking on Vanderbilt Hospital -- a little more research quickly told me that American hospitals don't issue any kind of baby kit. Hey, just because you are spending approximately $30,000 on your pregnancy, uncomplicated delivery and newborn care, you think maybe you should get a free bottle of baby shampoo? You freeloader, you!
Of course you can go online and scrounge freebies (mostly coupons) from baby supply companies of various sorts that are eager for your business, because of course if there’s one thing that new mothers have a lot of, it’s extra time, right?
The Finnish government gives that new baby kit to every expectant mother regardless of income who sees a doctor before the end of her second trimester; which means that every pregnant woman sees a doctor at least once so she can get the box. There's nothing fancy in it -- it’s got bodysuits, a sleeping bag, outdoor gear, diapers, bathing products for the baby, bedding and a small mattress for the box which becomes a crib after you empty it out. And a picture book and teething toy.
I’m not saying that we should have a similar practice here in the United States, because that would be Socialism. I'm not saying that doing this might raise us from the shameful position of being 30th in the world in infant survival. And I’m not even saying that there’s anything wrong with us having the highest death rate among all the industrialized countries of babies in the first day of life – 50% more deaths than all the other industrialized countries in the world COMBINED. I’m, you know, just saying.
--dr. diane holmes
Copyright © 2014