Scotland’s Chief Medical officer has defended the SNP’s Baby Boxes ahead of the initiative being launched on Tuesday.
A Baby Box will be given to each Scottish newborn and has received a mixed reaction at home. Some have welcomed the initiative whilst critics have dubbed it a PR stunt. The aim of the box is to help both parents and the early development of children.
Doctor Catherine Calderwood, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, said: “It’s no secret that the Scottish Government is working hard to ensure that all children have the best possible start in life – what might not be so clear is what this actually means in practice.
“All the evidence shows that the early years are crucial for children’s development. What happens then can be linked to outcomes much later in life. So we know that measures undertaken in the 0-3 year’s age range have the opportunity to make the biggest impact."
The government will provide a bath, a room thermometer, a baby wrap, a play mat, books and a cellular blanket in every Baby Box given to each new-born child. All items have been designed with the child’s health in mind and aim to tackle inequality in Scottish households.
The box itself also doubles as a "safe sleep space" and has been awarded British Safety standard accreditation to use as a crib at home.
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