Mission
Embrace prevents death and illness among newborn babies in developing countries using a low-cost incubator that
works with no electricity.
The Problem
20 million premature and low-birth-weight (LBW) babies are born every year – 80% of them in rural areas of
developing countries. Due to a lack of resources, 3.5 million of them die, and those that do survive grow up with
severe health problems. Many of these can be prevented with an incubator, a device that regulates a baby’s body
temperature. However, traditional incubators cost thousands of dollars, and are available only in urban
hospitals. Even when available, they are largely in disrepair. Most parents living in rural areas cannot afford to get
their child to one of these hospitals.
Our Solution
Embrace’s solution is a $25 incubator, designed to work in a primary healthcare center or at home. It uses no
electricity, has no moving parts, and is portable, very safe, and intuitive to use. It uses an innovative phase-
change material (PCM) in a sleeping bag design to regulate a baby’s temperature at 37oC, critical for the infant’s
survival. The PCM is heated simply through pouring hot water into a pouch. The device works for over 4 hours at a
stretch without intervention.
The product is designed to facilitate and complement the current WHO-advocated practice of kangaroo
care, and will easily integrate into current maternal training programs. We have commitments from NGOs for
field trials, and plan to launch in India. We will prove efficacy through NGO partners, and will distribute globally
through government healthcare centers and NGOs.
The Impact
This product bridges the gap in quality of healthcare available to a rural-born baby and that available to an urban-
born one. It will improve the lifelong health of LBW babies who will otherwise die or grow up sickly. We plan to put
an end to current unsafe practices like placing babies under light bulbs, and tying hot-water bottles to their bodies –
practices bor