The story
The idea of developing a breast pillow arose in 2017 after a medically necessary breast operation at the Pan Klinik Cologne. On the first day after the operation, my surgeon, Prof. Warm, informed me that I would not be allowed to lie on my stomach or on my side for the next 12 weeks. However, I did not concern myself with this thought any further, as the chest pain was initially in the foreground.
When the breast surgery deprived me of the possibility of lying on my stomach and on my side, I began to think about how and whether I could change that, because the constant supine position became unbearable for me after just a few days. Remaining in this one lying position hurt so much that I spent half the nights sitting in bed.
When I asked why you shouldn't lie on your stomach after a breast operation, Prof. Warm gave me the information that the prone position itself was not a problem, the chest just shouldn't touch the mattress.
I started by placing several pillows underneath myself, but they were shifted again the first time I turned them. So the idea arose to cut a suitable pillow for myself with foam and a special foam knife, on which I could lie on my stomach and finally got a restful sleep. With it I fell asleep lying on my stomach, took it away after 2-3 hours and was able to rest rested sleeping on my back for the rest of the night. I returned to the clinic with my “prototype pillow” to present it to my doctor. He was immediately enthusiastic because he performs a lot of plastic surgeries and therefore knew the problem of not being able to lie in the prone position for almost 12 weeks from many of his patients. From this point on everything took its course, rather unintentionally and not as planned (I am a speech therapist and not a "pillow specialist") but I enjoyed the thought that this pillow could also be of good help to other women in the same situation. After numerous tests of our own and that of many other women, the pillow was further improved and also adapted to different body sizes. Due to their use in clinical studies, the women took the pillows with them to physiotherapy, massages and even tattoo studios, so that they could also lie on massage tables there without pressure and pain. There was great demand from the practice and studio owners. I was very happy about the numerous positive feedback in the previous test phase. It gave me the necessary courage and incentive to continue working on this development and thus to create a product that should bring great relief to many women.
Claudia Davis, CEO laNora® GmbH
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