OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) — Community Services of Venango County Inc. and Baby Box University are partnering to become only one of two program in the State of Pennsylvania in providing Baby Boxes, a safe sleep environment for newborns.
According to Community Services, recognizing this need for safe sleep environments, CSVC decided to partner with Baby Boxes in providing this unique opportunity to new and expecting parents in Forest, Venango, and Crawford counties.
CSVC Welcome Every Child coordinator Chris Sanford said Missy Bensink, the Director of Early Head Start, came across the Baby Boxes and thought it was a great thing to incorporate into their projects to help new families.
“Missy wanted to bring it here, and it’s really taken off,” Sanford said. “We’re getting a lot of referrals. I believe there is one other county in the state doing it, but we’re the first in this area.”
According to its website, Baby Box University is a platform established by The Baby Box Co. to provide expecting and new parents with universal access to educational resources and a support system.
Developed in conjunction with leading medical experts, Baby Box University includes short form videos, articles, an ‘ask an expert’ feature, e-books and more.
The Baby Box tradition is credited with helping Finland achieve one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world, but Baby Boxes are hardly the magical single-layer solution widely portrayed in media.
Baby Boxes are safe-certified and sustainable infant sleep spaces, but want families to know that it’s the education, healthcare and community components of The Baby Box Co.’s global programs that are transformational.
The goal is to reduce Sudden Infant Death Syndrome deaths in Pennsylvania.
According to state Department of Health figures, SIDS is still the leading cause of death for infants. Seventy percent of those deaths can be attributed to infants not sleeping in a crib or bassinet, the agency said.
The emphasis on education is very much in line with the 75-plus year Baby Box initiative in Finland. Every expecting Finnish mother visits a doctor to receive important healthcare information in her second trimester before qualifying for a government-issued Baby Box.
Community Services of Venango County (CSVC) continues to lead the way for families in our community and has been in the forefront of homebased education programs with families since 1999.
CSVC provides homebased programs such as Early Head Start, Parents As Teachers, Community Doula, Welcome Every Child, Great Beginnings and more.
In 2015-2016, CSVC homebased programs served 331 families in Crawford, Forest and Venango counties.
In any given year more than 1,500 babies are born in the three-county area.
The partnership with Baby Box University focuses on safe sleep education, while providing a functioning bassinet, mattress and sheet. New and expecting parents in the Tri-County Area can sign up at the Baby Box University website using the “Community Services of Veining County-Oil City” syllabus at https://www.babyboxuniversity.com.
To get a free Baby Box, review the educational syllabus on Baby Box University, print or save the certificate, then call into the Community Services office closest to you and a Baby Box will be delivered to your home.
In Oil City, call 814-678-7766; in Titusville, call 814-775-0522; and in Meadville, call 814-332-0242.
