After nine long months (and several sleepless nights) you finally get to hold a new part of you. Hands that are smaller than your pinky finger. A head that fits comfortably into your palm. Skin so fragile that you stroke it with the gentlest touch. Your baby. Your little bundle of joy is finally here.
As everyone around sighs relief that the baby and mother are both safe & sound, the real deal has just begun. Once the baby is brought home, the biggest fear that most parents face is of being unable to understand if anything goes wrong.
With culprits like SIDS – Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, being responsible for thousands of infant deaths each year, it is but obvious that most parents are consistently alarmed about their little one doing fine. In this age of the Internet of Things, we have healthcare devices that have taken convenience to the next level in our lives. Well, thanks to Owlet Baby Care the most important aspect of a parent’s life – tracking their newborn’s vitals, has also become a matter of clicks and alarms.
Owlet is a baby vitals monitor that is encased in a sock that when strapped on to the baby’s foot goes on from being snuggly to smart and tracks the baby’s breathing, heart rate, etc. The device makes the best use of the pulse oximetry technology that is commonly used in hospitals (clipped on the finger) to track patient vitals.
In order to keep it baby-friendly owlet is extremely flexible & waterproof, consisting of multiple censors that collectively render an array of information including your baby’s sleeping posture, sleep quality, and body temperature. With the little ones being experts at kicking things off with ease, the dual grip above & below the ankle makes sure the sock doesn’t slip off and monitors the baby constantly. What’s more is that, as the device is used throughout the first year of the child’s life the monitor comes with three different sizes of socks (to fit your growing baby).
1/80th of the size of a standard pulse oximeter that we see at hospitals this small yet impactful device uses a Bluetooth feature that sends alerts to parents (in the hour of need). The most glittering aspect of this device is that it also allows you to check your baby’s vitals through your smartphone.
Kurt Workman, Founder/CEO of Owlet sensed the need for a device of this kind while he was taking care of his premature twin cousins. He observed the massive stress a mother undergoes mentally as well as physically in order to best care for her baby. This led to the creation of Owlet wearable technology (probably the first in infant space).
The smart sock is powered by a battery that lasts an average of 3-6 days and can be charged with ease through the USB port. If you are concerned that the technology can harm your baby then be rest assured that it is safe. The used ‘Low Energy Bluetooth’ of the device has radio waves that as less as is 1/100th of that of a cell phone in your pocket.
Currently being manufactured in the United States, the Owlet monitor is successfully shouldering the responsibility of keeping parents informed of the critical needs of their young ones. One such story is of Michelle Blanchard who was awakened by the Owlet Baby Monitor’s alarm late in the night as her two-month-old baby had turned silent and blue (due to low oxygen levels). Thanks to Owlet, she realized the low level of oxygen in the baby’s body and rendered care in time.
As Owlet currently surrounds infant care during the first year of their life, founders believe that it has the potential to accumulate the “largest infant data set” that over time will break the ice and aid the understanding of “what’s going on with children that sometimes die suddenly”.
The larger picture for the future of Owlet seems promising as this technology could be leveraged to help not just little infants but also several others who are in need of constant monitoring and critical care. We hope this product reaches every parent around the globe and proves to be “a product that’s actually going to change the world”.
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