miraclefeet

In impoverished areas of developing countries, miraclefeet provides proper, non-surgical treatment for children born with clubfoot. This disability is a stigmatizing, significant birth defect which affects 1 in every 750 children, but it can be routinely, safely, and inexpensively treated. The miraclefeet team worked with Stanford's Design for Extreme Affordability program to improve access to quality care by innovating and market testing a low-cost brace that is used in the final phase of treatment.

Since starting with 50 patients in Brazil, miraclefeet has used the brace-based Ponsetti Method in eleven countries to correct the clubfoot of over 4,000 children who otherwise would likely have gone untreated, and been relegated to lives of ignominy and extreme poverty.

Nearly 3,000 Tanzanian children are born with clubfoot every year; about 1,000 of those occur in the densely populated Lake Zone in the north. Project Redwood grants funded treatment for some, affording them the prospect of fully productive, active, and healthy lives.

The miraclefeet brace has received numerous awards including The Katherine M. Swanson Young Innovator Award from the Museum of Innovation.