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When Yamile Cendales Jackson (‘91, M.S. ‘94, Ph.D. ‘2000) gave birth to her son Zachary, he was 12 weeks premature and weighed only one pound, 15 ounces. Now Zachary is a thriving six year old, and Jackson has used her industrial engineering experience to develop a hand mimetic device, the Zaky, which is named after her son, to help premature babies and their mothers feel protected and closer to each other. Marketed through Jackson’s company Zakeez, the Zaky is an ergonomic pillow for premature and full-term babies that simulates the look, feel, touch and scent of their mother’s arm and hand. Jackson said she created the Zaky because she wanted to offer her son company, comfort and support while she was away from the hospital. “When Zachary was hospitalized for five months it was devastating for us to see him suffer without being able to do anything,” Jackson said. “Sometimes he was so sick that we were not allowed to even touch him.”Though the Zaky is not a medical device, Jackson said the idea for the innovative tool did originate with significant input from nurses, doctors, therapists and mothers in the NICU at Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital, where the Zaky has been successfully used since 2001. Currently, Jackson runs Zakeez from her home to maximize her time with Zachary. The Zaky can be found in baby stores, child-care facilities, pediatrician offices and hospitals in the United States, Canada, Latin America and Europe, and Jackson and Zachary handle their Web site sales personally. “I try to involve Zachary as much as possible,” Jackson said. “When we get an online order, he goes and gets the Zaky. We package it together and he puts it in the mail. He understands that the Zaky is going to help a mother and her baby.” |
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