mOm Essential Incubator Outperforms in Conflict Zones
Summary
mOm Incubators Ltd is committed to delivering life-saving thermal care to at least 2000 newborns every year in the conflict-affected regions of Gaza and Sudan. Rates of pre-term birth increase in times of crises and when combined with incubator shortages, this has created a neonatal emergency. Conventional incubators require stable power, controlled environments, highly trained staff, and extensive servicing – resources rarely available in conflict-affected regions. The mOm Essential Incubator bridges this critical gap as a solution engineered specifically to meet these challenges.
This commitment combines technical innovation with humanitarian expertise to ensure context-sensitive deployment of the incubators, training of medical and non-medical staff, and data-driven support. With rigorous monitoring and locally guided implementation, this model is not only addressing urgent needs but also building the foundation for significant scale in other high-need settings around the world.
Approach
mOm Incubators (mOm) commits to expanding the use of their mOm Essential Incubator (ME1) to conflict-affected settings, including Sudan and Gaza, delivering vital thermal care while generating the data needed to scale in similar high-need contexts. The ME1 is an innovative neonatal incubator designed specifically to meet the challenges of delivering care in such settings. It is lightweight, easy to use and clean, designed for repair and prepared for unstable power supplies with built-in surge protection and back-up battery. It has been proven to provide a stable, heated environment for vulnerable newborns and can be collapsed into a suitcase-sized unit. The mOm Essential Incubator is CE marked and classified as a Class IIb medical device under the European Union Medical Device Regulation (EU MDR 2017/745) . The incubator meets the IEC 60601-2-19 Requirements for basic safety and essential performance of infant incubators and is manufactured under an ISO 13485-certified quality management system.
Hospital sites will be identified with in-country partners and incubator use training will be provided to hospital staff. The project will supply up to 50 ME1 systems, serving between 2,600 and 5,200 babies every year. Consumables and spare parts will also be provided to ensure the systems run reliably throughout the duration of the project. Baseline data and project outcomes will be collected and rigorously assessed with an external partner to demonstrate the impact of mOm systems on hospital operations and child mortality and to inform future scaling.
The mOm team will lead implementation, supplying devices, neonatal innovation expertise, and evaluation oversight. Our partners will bring extensive experience in healthcare delivery in conflict settings, including Sudan and Gaza, and on the ground insights to ensure context-sensitive deployment.
Action Plan
Phase 1: Manufacture and Delivery (Months 1 through 6) :
Finalize monitoring and evaluation framework; manufacture incubators and consumables/spares; obtain clearances, import and deliver incubators; finalize MOUs with partner NGOs and agree hospital sites in target settings of Gaza and Sudan; develop context-appropriate training materials; and conduct staff training. Deliverables: Equipment, training materials, staff training events. Milestones: Incubators delivered. Training materials prepared. Training events conducted.
Phase 2: Usage and Data Collection (Months 7 through 19) Deployment and data collection: Incubators in use in hospitals in target regions; ongoing training and technical support; data collection; ongoing data analysis. Deliverables: Monitoring and evaluation interim reports. Milestone: Incubators in use. Data collection in progress.
Phase 3: Dissemination and Awareness building (Months 20 through 24) : Knowledge sharing; events & publications; external M&E report written on the impact of the project; project closure. Note incubators will remain in use from months 24 onwards and the intention is to donate the equipment to the in country partner. Deliverables: Data analysis report, knowledge transfer and communication plan. Milestones: Data analysis completed. Final report delivered.
Background
Preterm and low-birthweight babies face a high risk of neonatal hypothermia, which significantly increases their chances of death; Each 1-degree Celsius drop in a newborn’s temperature increases mortality by 28% (Laptook et al. 2007) . Effective thermal management practices for newborns, including incubators and Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) , are globally recognized as critical to reducing infant mortality and morbidity; .
However, in conflict settings, damage to health infrastructure, electricity and fuel shortages, and displacement frequently prevent access to safe, good quality, thermal care. Conventional incubators require stable power, controlled environments, highly trained staff, and extensive maintenance, all of which are disrupted in humanitarian settings. They are almost impossible to repair when they break down and are difficult to import due to their size and weight.
On top of these challenges in delivering care, the rate of preterm births is known to rise sharply in conflict zones, from an average of 10% to as high as 23% (UNICEF 2025) . The crises in Sudan and Gaza have created neonatal emergencies, as rising premature births are met with overwhelmed hospitals and a severe shortage of incubators and power, leading to newborn deaths (Human Rights Watch 2023) .
Progress Update
Partnership Opportunities
mOm Incubators is seeking three distinct resources:
Funding: While start-up funding is secured, there will still be a shortfall to optimize the project for success and ensure that it can be appropriately scaled. mOm Essential Incubator welcomes funding partnerships.
Implementing partners: mOm has good relationships with humanitarian organizations working in Sudan and Gaza where this Commitment will be implemented. However, additional contacts in these areas would be beneficial to further spread mOm’s reach and collect more extensive data.
Media support: Building awareness of mOm’s work is something that is often overlooked but incredibly important to scale innovations. mOm welcomes additional partners to help share the story of this work and its important role in newborn health in humanitarian settings., As a part of this project, mOm Incubators and partners will offer incubator systems to hospital sites, as well as training, technical and clinical support. The incubators will be supplied with consumables and spare parts needed to operate the system for years to come. After the crisis, the systems can be effectively integrated into the health system.
Additionally, mOm Incubators and Commitment partners offer credible and reliable data on newborn health in humanitarian contexts, which will be shared with local and global partners