Prapela

We just published a new article, announcing a major development in the care of Opioid-Exposed newborns!

A Pivotal Few Weeks for Opioid-Exposed Newborns: Reshaping How We Treat NOWS The weeks surrounding April 18, 2026, will be remembered as a significant moment in neonatal medicine. Within days of each other, two publications arrived that together push the field forward and ask it to look more honestly at where it still needs to go.

Prototype & Production Builds: $1M
Clinical Trials: >$3M
Lab Safety Testing: >$1M
FDA Submission Prep: >$0.5M
Time in the office and hospitals: 9 years

After securing FDA authorization for the first and only therapeutic mattress for hospital newborns, holding my new grandbaby, and knowing every bit of it was worth it: Priceless.

On behalf of Prapela, I wish to thank the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Charles Hood Foundation, The National Institute on Drug Abuse - NIDA, and many others for their support.

Sharing to the pediatric nursing community…National Association of Neonatal Therapists (NANT), National Association of Neonatal Nurses (NANN), AWHONN - The Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, Neonatal Nurses Association,

New research highlights why early care for opioid-exposed newborns matters—now more than ever.

A newly published study in the Journal of Perinatology reports that prenatal opioid exposure (POE) leading to neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) can have lasting effects on brain development:

“Findings suggest that POE leading to NOWS may exert lasting impacts on brain development, underscoring the additive effects of POE leading to NOWS and the need for targeted early interventions and long-term monitoring.”
— Rajaprakash et al., 2025

These findings emphasize the importance of early, targeted interventions during the newborn period, when support can make a meaningful difference.

At Prapela, Inc., we are proud that the Prapela SVS® hospital bassinet pad is the only FDA-authorized device for the treatment of prenatally opioid-exposed newborns with NAS/NOWS. Our patented SVS technology is designed to help calm infants, support physiologic stability, and complement standard hospital care during this critical time.

As science continues to advance, our commitment remains the same: supporting better outcomes for vulnerable newborns and their families—starting from the very beginning.

🔗 Read the study:
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-025-02496-7

Neurodevelopmental outcomes of prenatal opioid exposure and neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome: A systematic review from birth to early adulthood - Journal of Perinatology The rise in prenatal opioid exposure (POE) has led to an increase in neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS), yet the long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes secondary to POE and subsequent diagnosis of NOWS remains underexplored. A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, APA, and PsycINFO ide...