At a glance， it seems a strange place to put a newborn： a bit of bedding and a miniature sleeping bag arranged in a cardboard box.

Even so， thats the first place that many Finnish infants lay their little heads. And the simple setup is believed to be one reason that Finland now has one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world—2.52 for every 1，000 births， less than half that of the United States.

Finland provides all mothers-to-be with a baby box， but theres a string attached. To receive it， the mother has to undergo a medical exam during the first four months of pregnancy.

Each year the government gives away about 40，000 of the boxes， which come with bedding and about 50 other baby items， including clothes， socks， a warm coat and even a baby balaclava for the icy Nordic winter. （Mothers who dont need all those items can choose to get 140 euros instead.）

The program started in the late 1930s， when nearly one out of 10 infants in Finland died in their first year. The boxes were a low-cost way to encourage women to set aside old habits and see a doctor during pregnancy. They also provided a safe place outside of parents beds for infants to sleep， in homes that might have only rudimentary furniture.

Finland also offers considerable protection for the babys parents： up to 10 months paid leave， and a guarantee that whoever stays home with a child can return to his or her job any time before the child turns 3.

There are efforts to extend the baby-box idea to a wider audience. A hospital in London recently began giving out the boxes on a trial basis. In Minnesota， a non-profit group distributed the boxes to low-income families， inspiring a proposal debated by state lawmakers. A graduate student at Harvard formed an organization to distribute similar kits in South Asia.

“When you move abroad， you realize that， wow， not every place has a baby box，” said Sanna Kangasharju， who works in the Finnish Embassy in Washington. “Its a very efficient system.”

乍看上去，用這個東西來放新生嬰兒似乎有點奇怪：一個硬紙箱，里面有一些床上用品以及一個小睡袋。

即便如此，這就是很多芬蘭嬰兒最初睡覺的地方。這套簡單的裝備被認為是芬蘭成為全世界嬰兒死亡率最低的國家之一的一個原因。在芬蘭，每1000個新生嬰兒中有2.52個死亡，不到美國的一半。

芬蘭向所有的準媽媽發(fā)放一個嬰兒箱，但有個條件：準媽媽們必須在懷孕的頭四個月接受體檢。

政府每年贈送約4萬個箱子給準媽媽們，其中包括床上用品以及約50件其他嬰兒用品，如衣服、襪子、保暖外套，甚至還有可以應付北歐寒冬的嬰兒頭套。（如果準媽媽不需要這些東西，可以選擇領取140歐元。）

這個項目開始于20世紀30年代后期，當時在芬蘭出生的嬰兒中，差不多有十分之一會在第一年內(nèi)夭折。嬰兒箱可以鼓勵女性拋棄舊習慣，在懷孕期間去看醫(yī)生，而且這么做的成本也不高。此外，嬰兒也可以在這個箱子里安全地睡覺，不用擠在父母的床上，因為有些家庭可能只有最基本的家具。

芬蘭還為嬰兒的父母提供很好的保障︰長達10個月的帶薪假期，并保證在家?guī)Ш⒆拥募议L可以在孩子3歲前的任何時間重返工作崗位。

有些人試圖把嬰兒箱的做法推廣給更多人。英國倫敦一家醫(yī)院最近開始進行嬰兒箱發(fā)放試點。在美國明尼蘇達州，一個非營利組織向低收入家庭發(fā)放嬰兒箱，并催生一項提案，在州議會進行了討論。一名哈佛大學研究生成立了一個組織，在南亞地區(qū)分發(fā)類似的裝備。

“當你搬到國外時，你意識到，哇，不是每個地方都有嬰兒箱?！痹诜姨m駐華盛頓大使館工作的桑娜·坎阿斯哈勒尤說，“這是一種非常高效的方法。”