考研英语阅读篇章芬兰宝宝为何睡纸板箱

　　篇章：芬兰宝宝为何睡纸板箱

　　It s a tradition that dates back to the 1930s and it s designed to give all children in Finland, no matter what background they re from, an equal start in life.

　　据报道这项传统始于20世纪30年代，政府实施这一举措旨在让所有婴儿都能拥有一个平等的人生开端，无论他们出身如何。

　　The maternity package - a gift from the government - is available to all expectant mothers.

　　It contains bodysom, the box becomes a baby s first bed. Many children, from all social backgrounds, have their first naps within the safety of the box s four cardboard walls.

　　Mothers have a choice between taking the box, or a cash grant, currently set at 140 euros, but 95% opt for the box as it s worth much more.

　　The tradition dates back to 1938. To begin with, the scheme was only available to families on low incomes, but that changed in 1949.

　　Not only was it offered to all mothers-to-be but new legislation meant in order to get the grant, or maternity box, they had to visit a doctor or municipal pre-natal clinic before their fourth month of pregnancy, says Heidi Liesivesi, who works at Kela - the Social Insurance Institution of Finland.

　　So the box provided mothers with what they needed to look after their baby, but it also helped steer pregnant women into the arms of the doctors and nurses of Finland s nascent welfare state.

　　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.

　　Mika Gissler, a professor at the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki, gives several reasons for this - the maternity box and pre-natal care for all women in the 1940s, followed in the 60s by a national health insurance system and the central hospital network.