Ĭouney’s showmanship, popularity, and high success rate played an important role in the mainstream acceptance of modern incubator technology. Couney made it his life’s work to prove that the incubators saved lives and kept up his operation until Cornell Hospital in New York opened the first premature infant station in 1943. Many doctors at the time used their belief that premature children were “weaklings” to justify why incubators were unnecessary, and that the children couldn’t (or shouldn’t) be saved. When first introduced, most of the medical community was skeptical about the incubators’ efficacy or necessity. As word spread about the sideshow’s work, more parents brought their babies to Coney Island knowing that their child’s chances of survival were surprisingly higher in the circus than in a hospital. The exhibits featured doctors and nurses tending to the incubated infants around the clock while guests were welcome to visit and admire their work. Situated between peep shows and animal habitats in the bustling circus, Couney created fully functional NICUs with a strong emphasis on sterility and professionalism. While the infant expositions seem ethically questionable by today’s standards, the incubators at Couney’s popular sideshow were responsible for saving over 6,500 lives during 3 decades of operation, boasting a survival rate twice as high as the national average for premature infants. There, they would surrender their newborn to Martin Couney, who would display the baby in a glass incubator for the entertainment of paying onlookers. In the early 1900’s, parents of premature infants from all over the country faced a difficult decision: attempt to care for their vulnerable child at home or take them to the circus. By integrating ideas from these disciplines, engineers have successfully created living conditions that are essential for healthy premature development. This network of systems is powered and regulated by cutting edge electrical mechanisms. Fluid flow controls the humidity of the chambers, while gas exchange and partial pressure regulation ensure that the baby receives adequate oxygen and fresh air. Within these apparatuses are heaters operating on central concepts of thermodynamics. While its goals are simple, the modern incubator’s development since its days in the circus is a successful convergence of many aspects of engineering. By providing these conditions, the potential health risks associated with premature birth, such as respiratory failure, lack of body temperature regulation, and vision or hearing loss, are minimized. These controlled factors include warm temperature, temperate humidity, safe levels of light and sound exposure, and higher-than normal oxygen levels. Modern incubators utilize advanced microprocessors to monitor, control, and maintain the baby’s environment. Incubators are primarily used for children born as early as 6 months into a pregnancy, providing conditions similar to those in the womb. Over the last hundred years, the neonatal incubator has been one of the most influential contributions to the decline in infant mortality rate. Created purely as an exhibit, incubators became an integral part of medical practices needed to nurse premature babies to health. The show’s popularity drew attention to the potential benefits of incubators and played an important role in their acceptance by mainstream medicine. ![]() Upon admission, patrons of the park would enter a sterile tent and marvel at Martin Couney and a team of nurses tending to dozens of premature infants held in strange metal contraptions to “incubate” the babies to health. ![]() Tucked away among the flashing lights and carnival games was the world’s first neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). IntroductionĪt the turn of the 20 th century, patrons of New York’s Coney Island amusement park stumbled upon a fascinating new exhibit. Neonatal incubators utilize innovations such as air pressure control, heat circulation, and humidity control from a variety of engineering fields that help replicate the complex conditions that a child would experience in their mother’s womb. Despite the high infant mortality rate in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries, many medical professionals were hesitant to adopt incubator technology until Martin Couney, a circus showman from Germany, revealed the astounding survival rates that incubators provided. The introduction and mainstream development of infant incubators has significantly impacted the life expectancy of babies that are born as early as 24 weeks into a pregnancy.
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