Parents, take a moment to thank the inventor of the disposable diaper

Valerie Hunter Gordon, the British inventor of one of the first disposable diapers, died this month at the age of 94.

She designed the Paddi in the 1940s while living on an air force base in the UK with her husband and young family. Early prototypes were cut out of military parachute silk and stiched with a Singer sewing machine on her living room table. 

The introduction of a disposal "nappy," the British term for diaper, was a liberation for many women in post-war Britain, offering an end to the drudgery of hand-washing. Until the introduction of the Paddi, and later other brands of diapers, mothers had to soak, disinfect and then wash every diaper used by a child.

According to journalist Anna Burnside, inventing the Paddi was typical of Hunter Gordon’s approach to life. “Her nature wasn’t to think, oh this is horrible, this is awful, I hate that bucket of nappies,” she says. “Her instinct was to think: ‘Surely there must be something better than this?’”

There was initially resistance to the innovation, however, both from manufacturers and from some mothers. Manufacturing firms at first showed little interest in a product marketed purely at women.

Once the product did go into mass production, it also received criticism as unnecessarily wasteful during a time of post-war austerity and rationing. Some mothers were also concerned that it might have an impact on their children's health. These worries were laid to rest by an article in Britain’s leading medical journal, the Lancet, and the Paddi became hugely popular across Britain. Her baby son Nigel, now in his 60s, was one of the first Paddi models in print advertisements.

Hunter Gordon’s invention was eventually superseded by the introduction of American Pampers, but not before it had launched a quiet revolution in childcare.

Burnside remembers how Hunter Gordon retained her energy and enthusiasm up until the very end. “She was fantastic: a great character. She was super fun. And she said her nappy days were over.”