The Odón Device

“The idea came to Jorge Odón as he slept. Somehow, he said, his unconscious made the leap from a YouTube video he had just seen on extracting a lost cork from a wine bottle to the realization that the same parlor trick could save a baby stuck in the birth canal.

Mr. Odón, 59, an Argentine car mechanic, built his first prototype in his kitchen, using a glass jar for a womb, his daughter’s doll for the trapped baby, and a fabric bag and sleeve sewn by his wife as his lifesaving device.”

– from a Nov 2013 NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/health/new-tool-to-ease-difficult-births-a-plastic-bag.html?hpw&rref=health&_r=1&

According to FastCompany’s Most Creative People 2014 series, Odón is working full time on perfecting the device, which has been recognized by the World Health Organization for its “potential to save the lives of mothers and newborns at the time of birth." 

Fantastic and inspirational story of life-saving innovation.

More information:

http://www.fastcompany.com/3029367/most-creative-people-2014/jorge-odon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Od%C3%B3n_Device