It was just another regular day at the home of Brindle Kelley, a zoologist and a first-time mother, with her 4-month-old son, Jordan. After feeding him, she put Jordan on his baby bed for a nap, then left to the kitchen to make dinner.

She came back to check on Jordan about 2 hours later, only to find him sleeping on his tummy and his face buried in his bed. When she picked him up, his face was turning purple, and she couldn’t feel his breath. She panicked and her mind went entirely blank. Her neighbor helped to perform CPR before sending him to the hospital.

“After 20 minutes in the emergency room, which felt like hours, the doctors announced that there was nothing they could do. Jordan was gone forever.”

– Brindle Kelley

Brindle remembered clearly that she laid Jordan down on his back. The doctors believe he managed to roll over to his tummy with his face down and eventually suffocated. Brindle was devastated, yet there was nothing she could do about it.

After a few months, while her heart is still broken, she headed back to work. While doing her research in the forest, she spotted a chimpanzee with its newborn.

Something in her sparked a connection with that chimpanzee. The way the baby chimp clings onto his mother in his sleep, reminded her of Jordan sleeping in her arms every afternoon; when the mother chimp sits by a tree and holds its baby to her chest for feeding, it’s exactly how Brindle would feed Jordan on her sofa at home.

Or maybe she resonated with the chimpanzees simply because she had a newborn too. ‘Had’ was the key word.

She watched the chimpanzees almost every day. One day, she noticed something: chimpanzees have a habit of building their sleeping nest on the treetop. Their nest features a depression in the center to replicate a natural dip for their body. It also has raised periphery for the head, legs and arms designed to envelop their body, preventing them from rolling over in their sleep and falling from the tree.

This gave Brindle a lightbulb moment, she wanted to take this as an inspiration to create something that can provide a safe sleeping environment for human babies.

“Chimpanzees are human’s closest living relatives. Observing them in the wild helps us reconstruct how our ancestors adapted to a changing environment million years ago and could definitely help us live a better life in this modern age. All doctors say to always put a baby to sleep on its back, but clearly it wasn’t enough. Jordan’s death was 100% preventable, now that I have this amazing idea, I want to make sure this tragedy never happens to anyone else.”

– Brindle Kelley

Brindle worked closely with her husband, Jeffrey Kelley, an experienced obstetrician, on this. They combined their knowledge on chimpanzees and obstetrics, and created the BabyNest™ Anti-Rollover Mattress.

Just like the chimp’s sleeping nest, it features a raised periphery made of fastener cushion that surrounds the entire bed except for the head area, to prevent the baby from rolling over to the sides and suffocating.

While its shape mimics a pregnant mother’s uterus, it hugs the baby snuggly, just like how it was during its embryo period, guaranteeing a good night’s sleep for the baby.

It also features a depression in the center that can prevent the baby from spitting up milk.

The Kelleys took it up a notch by designing a further depression at the area where the baby’s head rests, to reduce the risks of flat-head syndrome that most mothers worry about.

Made of breathable material for an unrestricted airflow, it keeps a comfortable temperature and prevents overheating. This provides maximum comfort for the baby sleeping in it. 

Lastly, the flexible fastener cushion allows easy adjustments to always get the right fit for your fast-growing baby.

While parents are overly targeted for baby products, The BabyNest™ Anti-Rollover Mattress is a necessity that saves lives.

Don’t let this preventable accident take the lives of your loved ones.