It seemed the perfect plan. With two angel investors steering her medical device company toward an acquisition, Foster and her husband decided to start a family. However, by fall 2005 (the middle of her first trimester), everything had changed. The co-founder and president of Newland Medical Technologies had to seriously reconsider the course she had set for her company and make some tough choices to balance motherhood with her professional passions. 

industry focus has been in cardiac work. He pointed out that even though it was commonly known that the ureter naturally dilates in the presence of a foreign body, no stent products had taken full advantage of this fact. We felt that gently stimulating a wider dilation would improve urine flow and might even help pass kidney stones. 

Kidney stones, or ureteral stones, affected nearly 10 percent of the U.S. population, causing severe pain when they lodged in the ureter and obstructed urine flow. 

A patient arriving at a hospital with kidney stones was usually considered an emergency. The emergency room physician would administer pain medication and consult a urologist. The immediate and near-term treatment had to be safe and effective but keep options open for later procedures. 

By the late 1990s, most urologists were meeting these needs with the “Double-J”—a standard polyurethane stent inserted into the ureter to relieve pain by allowing urine to flow around the stone. With the Double-J, stones often remained in the ureter; the choice of procedure to remove them was related to their size and location, as well as access to sophisticated equipment.

Preparation Questions 

1. Discuss the process used by Sarah Foster and her partners to bring their medical device to market. How might they have avoided some of the pitfalls they encountered? 

2. Examine Newland's strategy in light of the special circumstances in its industry. How do you recommend the company proceed? 

3. In light of your plan for Newland Medical, how can Foster balance her personal and professional goals?