One of Scotland’s baby boxes is to be preserved in history in the Museum of Childhood.
The Scottish Government said 52,065 newborns across the country have received a baby box in the year since the scheme was introduced.
They include items such as clothes, a towel and a digital ear thermometer, while the box also comes with a mattress and can be used as a sleeping space for newborn babies.
The Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh will place one in its exhibition from next year.
Sandra Martin, history curator for Edinburgh’s Museums and Galleries, said: “The mseum houses some extraordinary examples of childhood history from all sides of Scottish society.
“From real silver spoons, a popular gift with babies in Victorian Edinburgh, to makeshift dolls crafted with nothing more than a wooden spoon and some old cloth, by families who couldn’t afford anything more.
“The modern baby box is the great equaliser. The same gifts for baby, available to all new mothers. It’s a pleasure to welcome it into our collection.”
The Scottish Government said 85% of expectant parents have taken up the opportunity to receive the baby box, while the latest parent survey showed 100% satisfaction.
Children and Early Years Minister Maree Todd said: “I am absolutely delighted that our baby box will have a place preserved in history here at the Museum of Childhood.
“This box has made such a difference to people’s lives in the past year, and to know that this will now be on exhibition as a legacy of the babies of Scotland should make everyone involved in creating, packing and delivering the baby box very proud.
“We are committed to ensuring every baby has the best start in life, and I’ve seen over the past year the difference this box and its contents has made to the lives of babies and their parents and carers.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel