THE Scottish Government's baby box scheme has been back in the news again.
This was largely courtesy of an article on the BBC website, in which an expert brought up complaints from a report that had been stated a while ago and been addressed a while ago.
Thankfully, no newspaper has decided to burn one to prove a point this time around.
In fact, the stand-out response has been an astonishing call to BBC Radio 2.
In it, Grace, who received a Scottish baby box when her son was born, explains how it helped save her life – and why it's such a welcome gift.
We've included a transcript of the call beneath the video clip.
👶 A @BBCRadio2 caller from Scotland describes how a #babybox from @ScotGov may have saved her life.
— The SNP (@theSNP) October 18, 2018
📖 Read our plan to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up: https://t.co/KFicKJ4wU3 pic.twitter.com/t4UeoAUkOJ
Presenter: Hi Grace
Grace: Hi there, you all right?
P: Now you had a baby box, or was it for you as a baby?
G: No, I received a baby box for my son.
P: Right, okay, so what happened?
G: Basically, I developed sepsis four days after my son was born. And inside the box – we got our box in Scotland, I’m originally Scottish. Inside that box was a digital thermometer which we didn’t have in the house otherwise. Because of that, I took my temperature when I wasn’t feeling very well, and we realised something was seriously wrong.
G: As a result, we managed to get medical help, and got seen to in the time that was needed to stop anything horrendously seriously happening
P: Sepsis was what they used to call septicaemia, so it starts in the blood I guess, or an infection of some kind?
G: Yeah, an infection. They don’t know how it developed but it was an infection of some kind that took hold. But it was really serious, I was in intensive care for nearly a week.
P: Wow. Well, it’s a killer isn’t it? So you’re lucky. It’s great that you’re okay.
G: Yeah so having that baby box we thought, hold on a second, we’ve got a thermometer in the box, let’s get it out, let’s check it out. So if we had hadn’t that box, we wouldn’t have had a digital thermometer in the house.
G: They’re amazing. The stuff in them, it’s stuff that you wouldn’t often buy. We could have got some of the stuff, but the thing is, a bath thermometer, you think ‘oh I don’t need that’. We use that bath thermometer every single day. We use the clothes constantly. All these little bits and pieces. It’s so well thought through. Anyone who says you shouldn’t have a baby box they’re a waste of money – they’re incredible, they’re such a nice gift to receive at the start of a child’s life.
P: Brilliant, well, I’m glad you’re okay Grace. All the best.
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