“The thing about the Finnish program is that one of the reasons it works is because it’s universal,” Clary said. “If you actually look back at other health-care interventions targeting infant and maternal health issues, historically no matter if it’s a baby box or anything else, if you do a targeted health-care initiative, the most vulnerable families you are trying to reach feel stigmatized, and so you don’t actually engage them on the same level as affluent people, who wouldn’t need it as much anyway.”

Baby boxes, Clary says, are the “great equalizer.” It’s not the boxes themselves that have reduced infant deaths, she notes, but the increased prenatal engagement and knowledge that soon-to-be moms and new moms obtain from the health-care providers.

Clary said the cost to produce the baby boxes varies widely by territory and its contents. She declined to give financial details, calling that proprietary information. The company has three revenue streams: individual consumers, partner organizations that buy the boxes (typically hospitals and corporate health programs) and community programs financed by nonprofits, government agencies and private contributions.