Innovations that save lives sometimes take a $1 Billion or more and many researchers while some are simple and effective. The innovation that has already saved many lives is a birth mat.
Birthing process is dangerous and is a risky, messy and tedious affair to say the least. Many lives are lost in developing countries that would otherwise be saved. A small invention by Mohammad Abdul Quaiyum of International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh has saved nearly 40% of the lives lost during childbirth. This is huge. It is probably very close to the number that were saved after vaccination was invented.
To understand what the mat does, one needs to understand that the primary danger to child birth is bleeding by the mother that cannot be controlled. However, how much bleeding is normal ? Quaiyum developed a mat that absorbs specifically 400 ml of blood. Losing more blood than that, causes the mat to become saturated and indicates that there is something wrong that requires a full fledged doctor rather than the midwife.
Combine that mat with the birthing kit supplied by the Rangpur Dinajpur Rural service that includes sterile razor for cutting the umbical cord, including thread, soap and a cotton guaze and you have a solution that helps saves lives.
The moral from this invention is that no matter how small the innovation, some have the ability to improve and save lives without patents, lawyers or complicated inventions.