As hard as it is to imagine, there was a time when all that covered a baby’s bottom was a cloth diaper. There were no rubber pants to keep the diapers from soaking the bedding the baby slept in or their clothes. Marion Donovan was tired of having to change bedding and clothing every time her baby was wet, so she decided to do something about it.

Marion was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1917. She earned an English Degree from Rosemont College before going on the Yale University, where she was one of only three women studying architecture. After graduating she went into journalism and became an editor at Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.

After marrying and giving birth, Marion decided to stay home to raise her two children. This was when she decided she needed to do something about the diaper situation.

A type of rubber pant had already been invented, but it was not fully effective and caused diaper rash and pinching on the babies.

Marion took a shower curtain and sat down at her sewing machine until she had a workable model. She replaced the pins with snaps and named it the “Boater” because she thought it looked like a boat.

In 1949 Marion tried to find manufacturers for her product, but found no takers. Undeterred, she took the product to Saks Fifth Avenue where it was an immediate success. A few years later Marion sold the rights to her “Boater” to the Keko Corporation for a million dollars.

She then started to work on a disposable diaper. When she had a working product she took it to diaper manufacturers who once again told her they didn’t see a market for her product.

Ten years later a man named Victor Mills created Pampers, drawing on Marion’s original design for disposable diapers.

Marion continued to invent and patent various innovative products, and at the time of her death in 1998, she held twenty patents for her creations. So, the next time you’re changing your baby without having to change the linens and bedclothes too….thank a woman. Thank Marion Donovan.