Dec 27, 2021
A Mother Built a Solar-Powered Unit To Save Infants From a Common Disease
Posted by Gemechu Taye in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience
A small box glowing with a brilliant blue light has saved the lives of numerous babies since its inception, and it’s only getting started.
This innovative box is called Crib A’Glow, and it’s a low-cost phototherapy solution for treating newborn babies with neonatal jaundice, a condition in which a baby’s skin and the whites of the eyes appear yellow due to excess bilirubin. When untreated, this ailment, which is extremely common as newborns haven’t developed the liver function to properly process the bilirubin, can cause hearing loss, blindness, brain damage, and even death, which is why instant treatment is recommended. This is where the novel phototherapy unit comes in.
Crib A’Glow was developed by Virtue Oboro 0, a mother and graphic designer from Nigeria, after her son’s experience with jaundice. Shortly after giving birth in 2015, Oboro noticed the classic yellow hue commonly associated with the disease in her son, and right after, he was diagnosed with jaundice. However, due to a lack of available phototherapy units in the hospital, his health deteriorated to the point that a blood transfusion was needed immediately. Her son survived the incident; however, Oboro was a changed woman after that.