Our Story
At Global Newborn Solutions, we develop medical innovations that address the most critical challenges in neonatal health and survival, specifically for settings where resources are limited.
But our story began with a single, urgent question:
Why are so many newborns still struggling to stay warm?
A Mission Born From Urgency.
In 2010, Boston’s Dr. Anne Hansen was working with neonatal wards in rural Rwanda when she encountered an unexpected and heartbreaking barrier to care: hypothermia.
Roughly one-third of newborns were admitted cold. Nearly all preterm infants experienced dangerous drops in temperature during their hospital stay. The few available incubators weren’t always reliable, and while Skin-to-Skin care (also known as Kangaroo Mother Care, or KMC) was effective, it wasn’t always enough, especially for multiples or babies whose mothers were too ill to provide constant care.
Even when babies and mothers were together, many newborns needed IVs, respiratory support, or constant monitoring — treatments that didn’t align easily with the 24/7 positioning required for STS. The babies who survived often grew slowly, diverting precious calories just to staying warm. Dr. Hansen feared especially for their developing brains, knowing how critical those early days are.
A Solution Designed With Care.
Back home, Dr. Hansen teamed up with engineers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to develop a solution: A non-electric, reusable heating pad designed to maintain safe skin temperatures for newborns in low-resource settings.
Working hand-in-hand with the Rwanda Ministry of Health and local providers, the team tested and refined the design. They knew it must be safe, affordable, intuitive, and easy to clean.
The result is the Dream Warmer™, which:
Delivers up to 6 hours of consistent warmth without electricity
Supports STS when possible, and works independently when not practical
Allows full medical access during use
Works in hospitals, clinics, during transport, or at home
Early field results have been extraordinarily positive, and the feedback from nurses and mothers is resoundingly clear: the Dream Warmer supplies life-saving warmth in an easy-to-use tool.
