Ms. Usa Jansuth, a Master's degree student at the PSU Faculty of Nursing, was awarded a silver medal by the National Research Council of Thailand in November 2021 at Thailand Research Expo 2021 held at Centara Grand Hotel and the Bangkok Convention Center. The award-winning innovation, a rubber nest mattress for premature babies, has a positive effect on the development and growth of the baby, while reducing associated costs, the need for diapers, and the workload of medical staff. The innovative product also increases the value of latex.
Ms. Usa Jansuth, a registered nurse working at the Neonatal Infirmary of Hat Yai Hospital in Songkhla, revealed that the mattress is shaped as a bird nest, an innovation that simulates the mother's womb, conveying a feeling of warmth and safety. The familiar environment helps the baby maintain a normal body temperature and better-quality sleep.
Neonatal mattresses in use today are essentially hand-folded diapers, offering less safety and structural support, causing babies to panic, lack sleep, and experience delayed growth development. These issues served as inspiration for creating the innovative rubber nest mattress for premature babies. The project under was carried out with the research advice from many professors: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Busakorn Punthmatharith, Asst. Prof. Dr. Wantanee Wiroonpanich from the Faculty of Nursing, and Asst. Prof. Dr. Ekwipoo Kalkornsuraprenee, Director of the Rubber Innovation Institute, Prince of Songkla University.
Ms. Usa Jansuth revealed that data collection in the neonatal intensive care unit and neonatal intensive care unit for eleven months between September 2020 and July 2021 showed that the rubber nest mattress helped babies have a good quality of rest and efficient growth. Respiratory rate, heart rate and blood oxygen levels were normal. The mattress did not cause any allergic reactions irritating to newborn skin. It is also expected that the product will reduce diaper usage, as it is easy to clean and has a long service life.
We have plan in selling Rubber Nest Mattress in the future to agencies nationally and internationally.