Budget bonanza: Free hampers gifted to new parents to ease cost of living
MOTHERS who give birth in a NSW hospital will each receive a “lifesaving” baby hamper filled with sleeping bags, wraps, nappies, wipes, change mat and children’s book as the NSW government moves to ease the cost burden on parents.
NSW
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EVERY baby born in NSW will receive a free “lifesaving” hamper containing a sleeping bag, wrap, nappies, change mat and children’s book to help ease the burden on new parents.
Valued at around $150, the “baby bundle” is part of a $157 million parenting package to be unveiled on Tuesday when Treasurer Dominic Perrottet hands down the last state budget before the election in March.
With polling showing cost of living dominating voter concerns, relief for families is set to be a key theme of the budget, which will also focus on funding key infrastructure projects.
The hampers, which also include washable breastpads, a thermometer, sanitiser, toothbrush and nappy rash cream, are meant to encourage parents to read key health messages contained within the package, covering topics such as dental care, breastfeeding, child-proofing a home and a child’s key developmental stages.
The sleeveless sleeping bag is designed to help reduce the risk of bedclothes covering a baby’s face, a contributor to sudden infant death syndrome, while the children’s book is aimed at encouraging parents to start reading to their babies from the very beginning of their lives.
The items will be in addition to the child health and development “blue book” that has been handed out to new parents since 1988.
Around 90,000 babies are born in NSW each year.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the baby bundle was designed to encourage parents to consume important health messages.
“It will not only help reduce some of the initial costs faced by new parents, but it will also support positive health and development outcomes for babies and their families,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Other measures in the parenting package will include funds to expand the Newborn Bloodspot Screening program, with NSW becoming the first state to test for the life-threatening disease Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia.
The government will also allocate $9.3 million for 100 new midwives, $4.3 million to pay for more nurse home visits, $5 million towards childhood cancer research and $2 million to improve play spaces for children in, mostly regional, paediatric wards.
Pregnant women and mothers with severe mental illness will also benefit from $1.1 million funding towards increased specialist peri-natal and infant mental health services.
The package will include $2.2 million for the Tresillian parent advice organisation to establish five Family Care Centre Hubs across regional NSW and the government will fund an update of its booklet Thinking Of Having A Baby. There will also be a $1.5 million boost to improve transport for pregnant women who need higher levels of care.
Mr Perrottet said cost of living is a key theme of the budget, which had shifted its focus to invest in people.
“Smaller investments can sometimes make a real difference in people’s lives, such as this baby-care bundle,” he said. “We want to make sure parents get the help they need in a heartbeat, which is why we are ramping up mental health services, midwife numbers and home visits.
“As we know, those first few days, while joyous, can also be tough.”
Manly mother Autumn Steinlauf said the hamper contained items that may not have always been purchased by the time a baby was born.
Ms Steinlauf, whose baby Sage is 13 weeks old, said the cost of having a baby often seemed endless.
“It’s a wonderful idea and the items are all useful,” Ms Steinlauf.
“It will encourage mothers to read all the information. After giving birth, it will be nice to receive a gift bag to help with your baby.”