How Getting a Better Night’s Sleep Can Save a Million Newborns
Back in 2002 Stanford grad school students Jane Chen and Rahul Panicker were asked to develop an infant warmer at 1 percent of the cost of a $20,000 incubator. Using NASA technology, the two developed an infant warmer they named the Embrace warmer, which requires limited electricity to warm a wax unit that then keeps an infant warm for up to 8 hours. Jane and Rahul founded Embrace, a nonprofit with the goal of using this tech to save lives. In just the last 5 years, Embrace has helped save 150,000 infants across 10 countries who otherwise wouldn’t have survived due to the lack of funds or resources for incubators (check out some of their stories, here).
But Rahul and Jane aren’t satisfied yet — they didn’t create Embrace to save 150,000 babies, they wanted to save a million. So in the hopes of raising enough money to save more babies, the two created Embrace Innovations and a consumer line called Little Lotus, which donates $25 to Embrace (the nonprofit) to help newborns in need for every $100 of Little Lotus products sold. The product line includes: an infant swaddle (0-3 months), sleeping bag (3-12 months) or blanket (0-5 years).
Neat idea, right? But Little Lotus isn’t just any old product line, a similar tech used in Embrace Warmers is used in each Little Lotus Swaddle — this proprietary fabric keeps newborns at just the right temperature at night so they sleep longer, sleep better. No need to worry about your little one getting too cold or hot, the swaddle instantly regulates temp! The swaddle and sleeping bag area also easy to take on or off while baby is asleep, and for quick diaper changes. You know how Velcro from baby swaddles attaches to things and gets all gnarly in the wash? Little Lotus tested their Velcro out to make sure it doesn’t do that. As a special bonus, each Little Lotus product features the hand tracings of the moms and infants who were helped by Embrace Warmers. Jane and Rahul partnered with contemporary Silicon Valley artist Drue Kataoka on Touch Our Future, an interactive digital art instillation (download the app to participate), which features the hands of the mother’s, babies, dignitaries, activists and supporters from around the world. But Little Lotus needs your help to get started. Just under $14,000 in less than 10 days to be exact. Little Lotus is almost at it’s Kickstarter goal of $98,000 — which is amazing! — but if they’re goal isn’t reached they won’t get any money for this endeavor at all.
Like many Kickstarter campaigns, Little Lotus is offering some great incentives for supporting their launch, and they’re really neat! If you donate just $5 you’ll get a social media shout out, feel like $25? They’ll send you a Little Lotus children’s book about the journey of the Embrace Warmer, and how it saved newborns around the world. For $50 you can get a T-shirt or onesie, for $55 you’ll get the Little Lotus swaddle or sleeping bag (your choice), and for $125 you get a choice of two (a package) Little Lotus swaddles or sleeping bags, or you can choose the Little Lotus Cozy Blanket option (this is the one I really, really want since I have a preschooler). After that, Little Lotus offers more combination packages, and even a very special Touch Our Future silk scarf for a $175 donation (this one may be limited edition, so I’d snatch it up if I were you).
I hope you’ll join me in supporting this amazing effort to save lives. Click here for more information about the Little Lotus Kickstarter Campaign and to watch some pretty inspiring videos.
All images courtesy of Embrace Innovations. This is not a sponsored post, no compensation or samples received — Savvy Every Day features nonprofits and world-changing parenting products and ideas for readers.