The Health Center for Women and Families (HCWF) is pleased to announce their partnership with The Baby Box Co. to offer the Baby Box University program to the local community. Baby Boxes are a safe sleeping alternative for babies in their first few months of life. The goal of the program is to improve family health care outcomes and provide families with free and vital educational and physical resources to ensure a safe to start to babies’ lives.

The Baby Box Co. is an innovative, integrated program to support parents and improve maternal and infant healthcare outcomes globally. The Baby Box Co. partners with hospitals, government agencies and nonprofit organizations to provide Baby Boxes, quality products, resources and ongoing education to families on a large scale. The Baby Boxes, which are made from a durable cardboard and are proactively certified to meet the highest level of available safety standards by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), as well as Health Canada and EN Standard regulations for bassinets, can be used as a baby’s bed for the first months of life.

Parents may come into the office with their Baby Box University certificate of completion from the Virginia syllabus and obtain a Baby Box free of charge. “We are so excited to have this partnership with The Baby Box Co. and to be able to offer this to the community. It’s imperative that parents know there are safe sleeping options for their infants, and we are happy to be a part of this,” stated Paula Tomko, Interim Executive Director of Central Virginia Health Services, Inc. (CVHS).

HCWF is part of Central Virginia Health Services (CVHS), a non-profit community health center – Virginia’s first community health center. HCWF currently offers family medical and prenatal care (up to 32 weeks). Community health centers like HCWF are community-based and patient-directed organizations that serve populations with limited access to healthcare because of geography, lack of insurance, poverty, or other factors. Along with other health care safety net providers, the health center plays a key role in the community’s health. HCWF takes most insurance plans and offers an income-based discount for services for low-income families.

For more information about the Baby Boxes, please call the office at 434-392-8177. For additional information about HCWF or CVHS, please feel free to contact Sheena Mackenzie, Development Director, 804-359-0477 or 804-972-1611. To qualify for a free Baby Box, parents in Farmville must go to www.babyboxuniversity.com and complete the Virginia syllabus.