Baby boxes encourage safe sleep practice for newborns

Doctors in Philadelphia hope to lower the city's high infant mortality rate by distributing baby boxes that encourage safe sleeping.
The cardboard boxes are lined with a mattress and function like a bassinet. They're meant to discourage parents from sleeping with their babies, which could cause accidental suffocation.
Temple University Hospital plans to give out 3,000 boxes over the next year to every woman who delivers there. The program started in May.
The hospital serves a low-income neighborhood where families don't always have adequate resources to care for newborns. The boxes also include clothing, diapers and educational materials.
Temple officials say their effort is based on a similar initiative in Finland. The Scandinavian nation lowered its infant mortality rate by distributing baby boxes starting in the 1930s.