An Incubator that Embraces the Fight Against Infant Mortality

In the developing world, many children’s lives end before they have a chance to begin. The developers of Embrace—a portable and cost-effective incubator—believe they have hatched a solution to infant mortality.

With a design similar to a doll-sized sleeping bag, Embrace uses a removable wax insert that requires only hot water for heating. When the warm wax is inserted, the sleeping bag can maintain a consistent temperature of 98 degrees for 4 to 6 hours, allowing low-weight infants to maintain a warm body temperature as they would in an electronic incubator. However, unlike a traditional incubator, which on average costs a hefty $20,000, the Embrace weighs in a much lighter $100. Extensive research was done in both India and in U.S. hospitals on over 170 babies to verify Embrace’s efficacy and safety.

Today, nearly 450 infants die every hour and more than 20 million children are born premature or with a low birth weight each year . If this new product is embraced by the developing world, more will have a chance of living a meaningful life.