Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes

#11

Post by steve19 » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 6:39 AM UTC

But does it decrease infant mortality? According to the CIA Facebook 2013 figures, Finland has the 12th lowest infant mortality. Not sure if this means the scheme works, or if simply paying a pregnant woman $50 each time she visits a doctor prior to birth would be a cheaper alternative (with the same outcome).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mor...

The WHO recommends countries record all babies born alive as live births, but some countries don't if the baby dies soon after (this makes them look better).

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes

#12

Post by pointyhats » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 6:45 AM UTC

oracuk wrote: post #9

pointyhats wrote: post #4

They should do this in the UK. From observing the locals, the maternity grant (until yanked by the government) was used to buy designer gear for the mother, cigarettes and some expensive fashionable buggy for the baby (usually topped up by the baby's grandparents). Unfortunately essential stuff was forgotten. This solves those problems.

Could you publish a citation referencing these problems?

Stand outside ASDA in Feltham or Hounslow and observe.

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes

#13

Post by HaloZero » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 6:50 AM UTC

pointyhats wrote: post #4

They should do this in the UK. From observing the locals, the maternity grant (until yanked by the government) was used to buy designer gear for the mother, cigarettes and some expensive fashionable buggy for the baby (usually topped up by the baby's grandparents). Unfortunately essential stuff was forgotten. This solves those problems.

They also had a maternity grant though the box was just opted in 95% of the time though

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes

#14

Post by davedx » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 6:54 AM UTC

steve19 wrote: post #11

But does it decrease infant mortality? According to the CIA Facebook 2013 figures, Finland has the 12th lowest infant mortality . Not sure if this means the scheme works, or if simply paying a pregnant woman $50 each time she visits a doctor prior to birth would be a cheaper alternative (with the same outcome). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mor... The WHO recommends countries record all bab…

Did you read the article?

"In the 1930s Finland was a poor country and infant mortality was high - 65 out of 1,000 babies died. But the figures improved rapidly in the decades that followed."

It's now 3/1,000.

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes

#15

Post by riffraff » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 7:15 AM UTC

davedx wrote: post #14

steve19 wrote: post #11

But does it decrease infant mortality? According to the CIA Facebook 2013 figures, Finland has the 12th lowest infant mortality . Not sure if this means the scheme works, or if simply paying a pregnant woman $50 each time she visits a doctor prior to birth would be a cheaper alternative (with the same outcome). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mor... The WHO recommends countries record all bab…

Did you read the article? "In the 1930s Finland was a poor country and infant mortality was high - 65 out of 1,000 babies died. But the figures improved rapidly in the decades that followed." It's now 3/1,000.

correlation/causation.

E.g. Italy does not have baby boxes, and child mortality went from 60/1000 to 3/1000 in the last sixty years too.

This happened basically everywhere, and either cardboard boxes play a big role and are used everywhere, or the effect is quite limited.

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes

#16

Post by janzer » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 7:16 AM UTC

davedx wrote: post #14

steve19 wrote: post #11

But does it decrease infant mortality? According to the CIA Facebook 2013 figures, Finland has the 12th lowest infant mortality . Not sure if this means the scheme works, or if simply paying a pregnant woman $50 each time she visits a doctor prior to birth would be a cheaper alternative (with the same outcome). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mor... The WHO recommends countries record all bab…

Did you read the article? "In the 1930s Finland was a poor country and infant mortality was high - 65 out of 1,000 babies died. But the figures improved rapidly in the decades that followed." It's now 3/1,000.

According to http://www.hrsa.gov/healthit/images/mchb_infantmortality_pub...

"The infant mortality rate in the United States showed a consistently downward trend between 1935 and 2000, with the rate declining from 55.7 per 1,000 live births in 1935 to 6.9 in 2000"

So Finland is doing better, but since the US has seen most of that improvement as well very little if any of it seems to be attributable to the box.

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes

#17

Post by schoper » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 7:23 AM UTC

If we lived in a world where journalists knew the slightest bit about critical thinking: Hmm, I wonder if the cardboard box cuts Finland's infant mortality. Maybe I should look up infant mortality for Norway and Sweden? Oh, it's exactly the same as Finland's? Can't be the box then.

I'm willing to bet that U.S. infant mortality is the same or even lower -- for people of Finnish descent.

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes

#18

Post by MojoJolo » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 7:26 AM UTC

nej wrote: post #10

Title of this article sounds a lot worst than what the article presents (thankfully). This is off topic, but as refreshing as this article is, I wonder how many readers avoided reading this due to the title as it could've been a very depressing article.

Me. I thought it was bad news. I saw this in frontpage a few times today. I just read it because I don't have something to do. And well, that was refreshing. It's cute.

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes

#19

Post by jeremysmyth » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 7:36 AM UTC

schoper wrote: post #17

If we lived in a world where journalists knew the slightest bit about critical thinking: Hmm, I wonder if the cardboard box cuts Finland's infant mortality. Maybe I should look up infant mortality for Norway and Sweden? Oh, it's exactly the same as Finland's? Can't be the box then. I'm willing to bet that U.S. infant mortality is the same or even lower -- for people of Finnish descent.

I'm willing to bet that U.S. infant mortality is the same or even lower -- for people of Finnish descent.

Why?

Re: Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes

#20

Post by codeulike » Tue, Jun 04, 2013, 7:37 AM UTC

schoper wrote: post #17

If we lived in a world where journalists knew the slightest bit about critical thinking: Hmm, I wonder if the cardboard box cuts Finland's infant mortality. Maybe I should look up infant mortality for Norway and Sweden? Oh, it's exactly the same as Finland's? Can't be the box then. I'm willing to bet that U.S. infant mortality is the same or even lower -- for people of Finnish descent.

It doesn't say the box cut infant mortality, it says that in the period 1940 to 1960, a combination of the box, encouraging visits to doctors and the national health insurance system cut infant mortality.