AVON

What it does

A portable incubator and birth kit for in-flight use enables quick response to emergency childbirth. It helps regulate neonatal temperature, hygiene, and basic maternal care. It is designed for intuitive use by both flight attendants and general passengers.

Your inspiration

After seeing several recent cases of childbirth occurring on airplanes, I began to feel concerned that these births were not taking place in safe or suitable environments. Aircraft cabins are typically cold, dry, and low in pressure—conditions that are far from ideal for newborns. This made me realize the need for a solution that could ensure safety and protection for both mother and baby. I came up with the idea of a portable incubator kit that can be used in-flight. It is designed to help maintain the newborn’s body temperature, protect against impact and infection, and provide a safer environment for emergency childbirth during flights.

How it works

When an emergency occurs during a flight, the user takes out the kit and presses the drawer labeled “Birth Kit” located at the bottom of the case. This releases a set of single-use childbirth supplies, which include gloves, a suction device, clamps, umbilical scissors, scissors, thread and needle, and gauze. After the baby is delivered, the user pulls the handle located on the top to unfold the portable incubator. The baby is placed inside the incubator, and the transparent door is closed to create a secure and enclosed environment. The portable incubator automatically maintains a temperature of 32–34°C, which is the average temperature of standard incubators. It continuously detects the internal temperature and adjusts it as needed. Likewise, it maintains a humidity level of 50–60%, automatically sensing and adjusting the moisture level to ensure the baby remains in a safe and stable condition.

Design process

In the early stages of development, I researched actual tools and functions used in hospital births and neonatal incubators. Through video ethnography analysis of in-flight births, I observed what tools were used, how the cabin layout restricted medical response, and how flight attendants handled the situation. From this, I realized that aircraft lack even the most basic childbirth equipment, and crew members are often forced to assist in childbirth under non-ideal and untrained conditions. I also learned that the aircraft environment can pose serious risks to newborns, such as hypothermia, dehydration, and exposure to infection. Based on these insights, I designed a structure that could be quickly and intuitively used during emergencies. Additional elements like air filtration, sealed structure to prevent infection, space-saving design, and visual operation guides were integrated for safe and intuitive use. Through this process, I also discovered areas for improvement: enhancing structural stability when deployed, adding visual icon-based instructions for ease of use, improving sensor accuracy and circuit safety, reducing overall size for storage within cabin emergency compartments, and applying durable, antibacterial materials for reliability.

How it is different

While most incubators are stationary and designed for use in hospitals or medical facilities, even portable versions are rarely created with in-flight emergencies and limited cabin space in mind. What makes our product distinct is its integration of a disposable birth kit and a foldable incubator into a single compact unit. This situation-centered design clearly differentiates it from conventional medical equipment. In most current emergency childbirth scenarios on planes, there is no dedicated device available to protect both the mother and newborn. In contrast, our product combines automatic temperature and humidity control, hygiene management, infection prevention, and rapid setup in one kit— providing a comprehensive and realistic solution for protecting life in unexpected in-flight situations, where traditional equipment cannot respond adequately.

Future plans

Moving forward, I plan to conduct prototype testing in a simulated aircraft environment to examine the product’s space efficiency, structural stability, and ease of operation within actual cabin constraints. In addition, I aim to refine the packaging and user instructions so that both the birth kit and incubator components can be used quickly and intuitively in emergency situations. In the future, I hope to gain insights from aviation professionals, medical staff specializing in childbirth, and experts in related industries, to evaluate the practicality and areas for improvement from a more professional perspective.

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