Recently I was able to meet with Jana Sinclair, one of the co-creators of the HealthPod Baby.  It was a great discussion for both of us and I was able to learn a bit of the story behind the Health Pod Baby’s creation.

HealthPod Babys, for those of you who are unfamiliar with them, are zippered organizers that you use to keep track of your child’s health information from birth (or from whenever you start using them).  HealthPod Babys have tabs for you to keep your information readily available: your child’s pertinent health information, a record of prescriptions and immunizations, questions for your health care providers, and more!  HealthPod Babys even have note paper and a pen handy for you to use. Just take it with you when you travel, or visit your health provider and everything that you need to know will be at your fingertips.

Melanie: Jana, tell my how you got the idea to make the HealthPod Baby.

Jana: Well, it really started with Nancy.  Her son was going through a tough time with chronic ear infections — they would become a problem at various times and Nancy found it difficult to keep up with which antibiotics worked and which caused problems for her son.  It was especially problematic when they were travelling and they had to see a new doctor who wanted to know her son’s history. She began keeping his prescription history and details of his symptoms in a book – which essentially became the first prototype of the HealthPod Baby!

Also, with my first baby, I had a problem where she was weighed with a scale that wasn’t calibrated properly and was diagnosed as failure to thrive (although she was healthy!).  I had to go in to have her weighed quite frequently for a few weeks.  I had scraps of paper falling out of my diaper bag and it was difficult to keep track of the measurements they were taking.

So, one day over breakfast Nancy, myself and our friend Marci were talking about how we needed a place to keep health information together and the idea of the HealthPod Baby began.

Melanie: Sounds great!  But how did you go from the idea to having an actual HealthPod Baby in your hand?

Jana: Well, we knew what we wanted, but we needed to know if other moms would use it and how they wanted it to function..  We put together a few focus groups and had some great input from moms.  Things like it needed to have lots of pockets and be hard enough to be able to write with it on your lap.  It also needed to be able to be customized to a child’s specific needs, etc.

Melanie: Did you have any other help?

Jana: Yes, we asked 20 different health professionals for their input on what the most important information was that parents should keep on their childʼs health and we put it in a really simple format thatʼs easy for parents to use.

Melanie: So you’ve got the idea and some great input, what was next for you?

Jana:  Our biggest challenge was finding a manufacturer that would make the product to our specifications.  Once we sourced a manufacturer, the rest seemed to come together fairly easily.   With a product finally in our hands, we had to figure out how to sell it and market it –and how to run a company.

The three of us started b.l.i.s. (because life is special) inc. and we all take turns at getting things done within the company.  We seem to share a lot of the responsibilities – kind of a divide and conquer scenario when it comes to delegating tasks.  We meet once a week and talk about the opportunities coming up and the direction that we want to go. 

Melanie: So what has been your response so far?

Jana: Absolutely wonderful.  We have HealthPod Babys in about 90 retailers throughout Canada,  including the Alberta Children’s Hospital.  The doctors and health professionals there just love them.  We also promote them in child and parenting fairs, and through partnerships with doulas and midwives.

Melanie: What are some of the great things about having a HealthPod Baby?

Jana:  You donʼt need to be an organized person or someone who loves to journal.  The HealthPod Baby was designed so that it takes minimal work to keep the most important information about your child.  If you ever need to relay your childʼs health information in an emergency or to a new doctor, everything you need will be in the HealthPod Baby.  It`s also a great place to store all the information you collect from the doctors, encourages you to write down your questions before your health visits to help you optimize the time you have with your doctor, and also creates a lasting record of your child`s early years.  Essentially, it’s a place to keep all the important information together so its easy to share with others, its easy to find, and nothing gets lost.

Melanie: So how can someone get a HealthPod if they can’t find one?

Jana: People are welcome to visit our website at www.healthpod.ca for a list of retailers or to purchase a HealthPod Baby on-line.  We ship HealthPod Babys all over the world.  And if people want to send a HealthPod Baby as a gift, we can ship it directly to the recipient along with a gift card!

Back To Dr. Melanie's Website

Back to Heartlights Publishing