The program also emphasizes , allowing for skin-to-skin contact between mother and child, which promotes bonding and essential warmth even when the warmer is in use.
In 2007, co-founder and her team were challenged in a Stanford Graduate School of Business course called "Design for Extreme Affordability" to create an incubator that cost less than 1% of a traditional $20,000 model. They realized that for rural families in countries like India, the problem wasn't just the price; it was the lack of electricity and the vast distances to urban hospitals. A Simple, Brilliant Design
The story of the infant warmer is a journey of "extreme affordability" that began in a Stanford classroom and grew into a global movement to save millions of newborns. The Spark of an Idea Embrace 01
: To ensure it could be repaired anywhere, they replaced zippers with buttons and used durable, easy-to-wash nylon and vinyl.
: A reusable pouch filled with phase-change material (PCM) —a wax-like substance that, when melted in boiling water, maintains a steady 98.6°F (37°C) for several hours. The program also emphasizes , allowing for skin-to-skin
The team rejected the idea of a "cheaper box with a plug" and instead developed a portable, non-electric "sleeping bag".
Jane Chen eventually moved to India to launch Embrace Global , turning the prototype into a reality. By 2025, the organization had saved through partnerships like the Ujala Project. A Simple, Brilliant Design The story of the
: The final product cost between $25 and $100 , making life-saving technology accessible to the world's most impoverished populations. Saving a Million Lives