From the drama of a very premature birth to the creation of a company that aims to improve the lives of all children who are born well in advance: this is the story of Yamile Jackson and his son Zachary, an example of how, from a difficult and painful private experience, something can still be born that can improve the lives of many people.
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerous
From the drama of a very premature birth to the creation of a company that aims to improve the lives of all children who come to light well in advance: is the story of Yamile Jackson and his son Zachary, an example of how, from a difficult and painful private experience, something can still be born that can improve the lives of many people.
In 2001, Colombian-born engineer Yamile Jackson living in Texas with her husband, was happily pregnant with her first child. Everything seemed to be going well, until, because of the preeclampsia, Yamile found herself in the dramatic situation of having to give birth to her baby at the 28th week of gestation.
At birth, little Zachary weighed less than a pound and was immediately transferred to the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit in Houston, where he spent the first five months of his life. During that very long period of time, Yamile had to agree to be separated from the baby every night, as her parents were not allowed to stay on the ward during the night hours.
While accepting the rules, the new mother ardently wished that Zachary could feel his closeness and love at all times and that he knew that his parents were always next to him, accompanying and supporting him in his daily struggle to survive. Thus, that forced separation, however painful, became a real source of inspiration: one day, Yamile took a pair of soft gloves, filled them with flax seeds and kept them for several hours with him, in contact with your own skin. And in the evening, before leaving Zachary in her incubator, she placed them next to him for her to feel close to.
Thus was born the first prototype of The Zaky, a special glove made specifically to make babies feel the warmth, the scent and all the affection of mum and dad.
After Zachary was discharged from the hospital, starting a new life, Yamile nevertheless decided to carry on his intuition and used his knowledge and his skills as an engineer to develop a product that had all the characteristics to be used in neonatal intensive care: a glove that, in terms of material, consistency and properties, could really act as a substitute for mum and dad, helping to relax and calm the baby, making him feel pampered and protected.
Over time, supported by her husband Larry, Yamile founded Nurtured by design, a company specializing in offering solutions for the care of newborns, and in particular of babies who are born premature. In addition to The Zaky, which has now spread to numerous hospitals around the world, the company also produces the Kangaroo Zak, a special headband that allows skin-to-skin contact between the newborn and the parent and makes care easier. of the children admitted to hospital which contributed to spread the theories and the adoption in many neonatal intensive therapies of the so-called pouch therapy.
READ also: The rediscovery of babywearing: more and more mothers (and fathers) bring their babies
Thanks to Zachary, who is now a teenager, and to the inventiveness and sensitivity of his mother, today premature babies and their parents can really count on extra support.
Lisa Vagnozzi
Photo credits
