The DiviDiaper Story
DiviDiaper started with Two Parents, One child, and diapers that left him completely exposed.
Day 1
Harlow was born with a birth defect called (hypospadias) which means the urethra didn’t exit at the tip of the penis, but on the underside. Fixing that required multiple reconstructive surgeries between ages one and three. Each surgery meant stitches, a catheter, and a long, nerve-wracking recovery for his parents, Tivon Jeffers and LisaRoxanne Walters-Jeffers.
In the hospital, the “standard of care” for post-op diapering wasn’t a special medical product. It was a hack: the double-diapering method.
Nurses would:
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Take one diaper and cut a hole through the front of it.
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Feed the catheter and tubing through that hole so it could exit the diaper.
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Then place another diaper underneath to catch the urine that dripped from the catheter.
One day, when Tivon went to change Harlow, stool had spread everywhere—including right onto the fresh stitches on his scrotum from one of his surgeries.
That's when the idea hit
“What about a Divider?!!
"What if we could separate the urine from stool and keep the stool from reaching the surgical area?”
From Desperation to Design
Tivon began sketching, and together he and LisaRoxanne brainstormed until they arrived at what felt like the perfect prototype: a diaper with an internal elasticized divider and, when needed, a front compartment to isolate the catheter away from the body, with a dedicated port for the catheter to feed through.
Eureka, Gold at Last!!!
Test after test, Harlow wore the diaper. The first time, the front was wet and the back stayed dry. The next time, the front held urine and the back held stool—separated, with no cross-contamination.
From Kitchen Table to Clinical Collaboration
Once they saw the impact on Harlow, Tivon and LisaRoxanne knew this couldn’t just stay a “family hack.”
They brought the prototypes to Harlow’s surgeon, Dr. Dix Poppas, Chief of Pediatric Urology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. He immediately saw the potential. Under his supervision, the prototypes were used in post-operative care, giving the founders early, real-world clinical feedback.
Dr. Poppas would later describe the concept as something that “should be used by all needing diapers” because it was “just a better diaper that makes good sense.”
At this point, Tivon and LisaRoxanne were no longer just parents improvising in a hospital room; they were becoming inventors. They filed for intellectual property, refined the design, and started thinking not just about one child after surgery, but about:
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Medically complex infants and children who spend months or years in diapers
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Children with severe diaper rash and skin breakdown
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Patients with indwelling catheters at risk for catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) and sepsis
From the beginning, the plan was clear: start by protecting the most fragile pediatric patients, then bring the same protection to adults in hospitals, long-term care, and home care.
The core insight never changed: separate and isolate waste at the source to protect skin, tubing, and patients.
In 2018, Tivon and LisaRoxanne formally founded DiviDiaper Inc. in Brooklyn, New York, to commercialize the technology and “build a better diaper” starting with medically complex children, with a clear path to adults.
The broader nonwovens and hygiene industry quickly began to take notice:
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DiviDiaper was selected as a finalist for the RISE® Innovation Award, recognizing breakthrough technologies in nonwovens.
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DiviDiaper went on to win the 2018 INDA RISE Innovation Award, beating out major industry players.
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The invention was featured on FOX 5 New York in a widely viewed segment, “Son’s surgeries spur Brooklyn couple to invent new diaper,” bringing public attention to both Harlow’s story and the technology.
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The product was presented at Carlos Richer’s Absorbent Hygiene Products Workshop: New Trends during the 2017 Hygienix conference, introducing DiviDiaper to global industry experts.
But recognition wasn’t the same as production. When they began talking with manufacturers, many couldn’t see how to run a divider and catheter compartment at high speeds on existing lines. Some said it was too complicated; others worried it would slow production down.
Founding DiviDiaper
Making A Way
So Tivon and LisaRoxanne went straight to the source: the diaper machine builders themselves.
They brought the designs to JOA, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-speed diaper machines. After studying the concept, JOA confirmed that DiviDiaper’s designs can be made on standard diaper machines at high speeds, using conversion kits and retrofitting on existing lines rather than building entirely new factories.
That was a turning point.
It meant this wasn’t just a niche product—it could become a new standard architecture that existing brands could adopt. From that moment, the long-term vision became clear: license the technology across diaper companies worldwide, so that the divider and catheter compartment can protect patients far beyond a single brand.
Where We Are Now
As DiviDiaper evolved from drawings and prototypes into a real-world platform concept, it began to catch the attention of industry veterans and global health stakeholders.
Along the way, the team has engaged with professionals and leaders connected to companies such as Crown Abbey, Price Hanna, Noble Hygiene, Cardinal Health, and Irving Personal Care, as well as voices tied into the broader WHO (World Health Organization)–focused global health community. These conversations have reinforced a simple idea: infection-prevention diapers are not a “nice to have”—they are a missing layer in the infection-control chain.
Currently we're moving forward under the guidance of industry veteran John Poccia, a former Johnson & Johnson leader who holds numerous patents and has played a key role in the development and production of successful diaper brands, including Kudos. And have teamed up with Bioana to carefully develop our first medical-grade samples that are being readied for a planned NICU pilot with a major New York City hospital organization.
This will be the first step toward expanding into additional hospitals and care settings as the data supports it.
Behind every decision, one standard leads the way.
"Isolate the waste. Prevent the Infection"