Local couple’s invention means sweet dreams for parents

"Necessity is the mother of all invention", that's according to Gail and Paul Whale, inventors of a revolutionary new baby mattress designed to put parents' minds at ease. The Halesowen couple have worked tirelessly for the last ten years to bring the PurFlo mattress to market and launched the fruit of their labour at last month's NEC Baby Show.

The PurFlo story begins in 1994 when doting new parents Gail and Paul became concerned about a Cook report that linked fire retardant chemicals in baby mattresses to cot death. As nationwide panic about the report spread, Gail and Paul began to doubt how safe their baby daughter Heather was as she lay in her cot.

After one too many sleepless nights, however, an exhausted Gail took matters into her own hands. "I thought ‘there has to be a way for us to have peace of mind and a good night's sleep!' If the foam in the mattress was the source of the problem then why not get rid of it altogether?"

After Gail's ‘eureka moment', the couple set about designing and building a mattress for Heather. Gail and Paul's concept was a fully breathable, fully washable mesh sheet tightly fitted over a hollow frame.

Ten years of development and rigorous testing followed. The PurFlo mattress was subjected to extensive clinical research under the direction of Professor Peter Fleming CBE, Professor of Infant Health and Developmental Physiology at Bristol University and an acknowledged world leader on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

"It's been a long road bringing PurFlo to market but it was really important to us that parents could have total confidence in the product," says Paul Whale.

"PurFlo is the only baby mattress in the world to undergo this type of testing so parents can be certain that they're providing the safest sleeping environment for their infant."

The PurFlo mattress uses an aluminium framework covered by a high tech, fully breathable cover. With no inner core, it is the only fully washable and foam-free mattress in the world. PurFlo provides a dust-mite free environment which prevents the harmful build-up of allergens, bacteria and fungi which are known to cause eczema and asthma.

"It's pretty nerve wracking being a parent, you constantly worry about the millions of things that could be affecting your baby's health and safety without you knowing about it," says Gail. "We might not be able to alay all of these fears but we can certainly give parents peace of mind where mattresses are concerned."

-ENDS-

For further information about PurFlo please contact us on tel. 01788 891890.