PHILADELPHIA -- New mother Brianna Devero wasn't prepared for little Steve to enter the world for another two weeks, but thanks to a new hospital program, his early arrival was celebrated with a gift.

Steve Tomzelli Jr. was born May 1 at Temple University Hospital. His parents, Devero and Steven Tomzelli were the first family to receive a "Baby Box" from the hospital-- a functioning bassinet with a sheet, mattress, and essential baby needs.

Temple University launched a new "Baby Box" distribution program Friday morning in the lobby of the hospital in Philadelphia.

The "Baby Box" is dedicated to new mothers in an effort to promote safe newborn sleep and is one of the first distribution programs like this in the country, according to Medical Director of the Well Baby Nursery at TUH Megan Heere.

There are roughly 3,000 births a year at Temple, according to Heere, and as of May 1, mothers will be given a baby box at the hospital.

North Philadelphia has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the entire country with many babies born into poverty, hospital officials said. Young moms don't always have the efficient resources ready to care for these newborns.

These box itself serves as a functioning bassinet and comes with fleece and cotton clothing, a baby book, diapers, a thermometer, nasal aspirator, baby wash, and essential education and resource information.

For Devero, she wasn't prepared for the arrival of her son, and the box made for a smooth and comforting transition home.

"I appreciate everything they have done for me. By receiving the box, now I want to give back and raise awareness and be a representation," Devero said about why she attended the launch of the program.

The concept of the baby box originated in Finland, according to Heere, where they experienced a high infant mortality rate in the 1930s.

Government officials began distributing baby boxes and since, the mortality rate has dropped steadily, Heere said.

"It was like a maternity right of passage, with the increase of prenatal care. Women were always offered a box. Now we are the first in the country to do a box distribution of this scale," Heere added.

Children's Hospital of San Antonio in Texas announced a similar program earlier this year.

Once the baby outgrows the box, it can be used for storage, hospital officials said.

"It doesn't replace a crib. If a mom doesn't have a crib, sometimes they don't have a place for their baby to sleep. This works as a bridge until you can get the resources to get a proper crib," Heere said.

The baby box distribution program was created through collaboration between Temple pediatrics and maternity nurses -- Sleep Awareness Family Education at Temple -- targeting the common high risk behaviors associated with infant mortality.

The goal is to reduce Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) -- which describes the sudden, unexplained death of an infant. SUIDs can be attributed to suffocation, asphyxia, entrapment, infection, ingestions, metabolic diseases and trauma.

Roughly 3,500 infants in the U.S. die suddenly each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SAFE-T members at Temple collected research starting in January 2015. Then, all mothers who delivered a baby at that hospital received standard practice safe sleep education. Following this, Temple followed up with post-discharge questionnaires to help assess sleeping environments for babies.

As of May 3, mothers of newborns also receive safe sleep education with the new baby boxes. In a year, Temple officials will summarize their findings and look at any data following the distributions.

Brittany Wehner may be reached at bwehner@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @brittanymwehner. Find NJ.com on Facebook.