For this post, I chose to talk about breathable mattresses for babies. These breathable mattresses are supposed to help prevent SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). The breathable mattress has something to do with my innovation idea that my sociotechnical plan for the Unit 4 IP is based on. I was not able to find an organization that produces the breathable mattress where something went wrong beyond their control, but I have found an article that the breathable mattresses have not actually been proven to prevent SIDS (Callahan, 2016). It has been speculated in medical and scientific circles that SIDS is possibly caused by a defect in an infant’s brain located in the area that controls arousal from sleep and breathing.
The breathable mattress idea is relevant to my innovative idea in that it is part of the idea, but not the entire thing. You will be able to see more of my idea in Unit 5. I am hoping my idea addresses the prevention of SIDS, but as it could be caused by a defect in an infants brain, it might be something neurological that must be fixed. However, I feel that my idea could be a big help to all infants, and to infants with breathing issues.
The two forces I feel might impact my innovation idea is cost and parental confidence and trust. The description of how they would affect my idea is as follows:
Cost
As with anything that comes out containing a good amount of technology, it will cost a lot. The idea I have contains more than just a breathable mattress. There are parts of the idea that could also assist children with other health issues. It could be done, but it will not be cheap. This would be fine for parents that have enough money to easily purchase it, but lower income families would struggle to be able to buy it. There is also the issue of Medicaid approving it. The government is not known to invest in expensive equipment, at least not when it is new.
Parental Confidence and Trust
A majority of parents have a difficult time trusting in anything that has to do with contact with their newborn babies. My idea would be so new, that it would take time for parents to trust that it would do the job it is intended to do without malfunctions and errors. Obviously, if my innovation idea ever came to full fruition, it would need to be approved by all government and consumer regulated agencies. It would need to be tested and perfected. I feel it would all be worth it if it could save so many lives.
NOTE: The photo in this blog was taken from Google Images. I did not take this photograph and I do not own it.
Reference
Callahan, A. (2016, August 25). Could a Breathable Mattress Help Your Baby Avoid SIDS? Retrieved from Slate: https://slate.com/technology/2016/08/dont-believe-what-mattress-companies-tell-you-about-sids-believe-the-science.html