Ernst Hertzog and Frans de Villiers, two South African dads, have come up with a project to help support moms and newborns. Named the Thula Baba Box, the concept is based on the 1938 Finnish initiative that saw a reduction in the infant mortality rate from 65 deaths per 1000 children born in 1938 to just 3 deaths per 1000 births in 2013. The box contained clothes, sheets and toys, and could double as a cot.

The Thula Baba Box has been designated an official 2014 World Design Capital partner project. The project has also received funding from the J-PAL Africa Incubation Fund to study its effects on maternal and infant health alongside the University of Stellenbosch. The Thula Baby box will include items such as clothes, medicine and developmental toys as well as literature for the parents. Plus, it will also give parents and their newborn access to free health products, information and a rewards system to encourage new moms to visit antenatal clinics earlier and more frequently.

‘We are looking forward to seeing the impact of the study on lower income families in the Western Cape,’ says de Villiers. ‘Hopefully we’ll be able to supply new mothers throughout the Western Cape with the Thula Baba Box by 2016, and all across South Africa by 2020.’

For more info on the Thula Baba Box, contact .