We recently connected with Jenna Eissmann and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jenna thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

My cofounder, Madeleine, and I met each other in our senior project class in Cal Poly’s Biomedical Engineering department. In this class, we were given a list of several project options to choose from and we had to rank our top 3 most wanted ones. I had ranked every women’s/children’s health project within my top 3. Madeleine had done the same. We were eventually assigned to create an alternative to vacuum or forceps during vaginal childbirth.

As engineers, we tackled this problem with excitement, but we soon realized we were out of our depth with clinical expertise. We began surveying local obstetrician/gynecologists (OBGYNs) and soon discovered they were not looking for a change to vacuum or forceps. In fact, they worked rather well. Instead, we were directed to a problem in which OBGYNs are fearful of all the time: shoulder dystocia.

Shoulder dystocia is an unpredictable, life-threatening emergency during vaginal childbirth where a baby’s head may be delivered, but its shoulders become impacted on the maternal pubic bones. After speaking with several clinicians, we learned that shoulder dystocia is commonly referred to as “an obstetrician’s nightmare” because of the risks associated with treating it – clavicle fractures for baby, severe postpartum bleeding (hemorrhage) for mom, traumatic nerve injury (brachial plexus injury), and even fetal death. Not to mention, the methods for treating shoulder dystocia are highly subjective and often pose difficulty for the doctor because they lack reach to help get the baby delivered away from the pubic bones of the mom.

From these conversations, we changed the scope of our focus to shoulder dystocia, and began heavily working to aid clinicians in doing what they already do, but in a way that is more controlled and safer for all involved. We have spoken to a wide variety of experts – including OBGYNs, labor and delivery nurses, midwives, pelvic floor physical therapists, and the patients themselves – in order to understand what is most needed for a shoulder dystocia alleviating product to be safe, helpful, and useful for all parties involved.

Jenna, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi there! My name is Jenna Eissmann, and I am the CEO and Co-founder of Everest Medical Solutions.

Growing up, I was an avid athlete, and played soccer competitively until I tore my ACL when I was 16. At that point in my life, that was the hardest thing I had ever faced. I was constantly upset over the loss of autonomy I felt throughout the recovery process and the inability of my body to perform as it once did. I have always been a problem-solver who is interested in how the world around me works, and I could not let go of the idea that the recovery process needed to be better. This obstacle in my life led me to find and pursue a career in the field of biomedical engineering, in which ingenuity meets healthcare and engineering principles.

The brief loss of autonomy through the inability to walk that I experienced at the age of 16 had such a profound effect on me, that it is my desire to prevent similar debilitating injuries. This is where Everest Medical Solutions’ mission comes to the forefront of everything I do. At Everest, we believe in giving every newborn the best possible start to life by eliminating the risk for the debilitating injuries associated with the birth emergency of shoulder dystocia. We believe that by developing technology at the cross section of obstetric, midwifery, and engineering expertise, we can ensure that a moment that should be a highlight in one’s life – the birth of a child – is not poisoned by trauma, fear, or injury.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

My co-founder and myself have adopted the mindset of “It’s ok if I don’t know right now, but I need to find a plan to figure out what the answer is.” With this mantra, we enable ourselves to tackle every problem we encounter and it allows us to be humble and find the people with the right knowledge we are seeking, The mentality of recognizing gaps in knowledge in the moment, without letting the unknowns defeat you is what helps us drive progress and change forward in a field that involves the creation of new knowledge and technology while harnessing the knowledge of existing solutions.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As I mentioned previously, Madeleine and I met through our senior project class at Cal Poly. However, we did not begin to work heavily on our mission to ensure safer birth until after the conclusion of that class. We realized this problem was larger than just coursework after talking to one of my family friends and learning they had a traumatic experience with a shoulder dystocia birth. This made what was once a class project change overnight into a problem we are determined to solve.

However, after Madeleine and I obtained our bachelor’s degrees in biomedical engineering, we both chose to pursue advanced degrees in engineering disciplines. Over the last year and half we have learned to balance the demands of entrepreneurship while continuing to pursue our advanced degrees in complex technical disciplines. Madeleine received her Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering in June 2025 while I received my Master’s Degree in Engineering Management.

This process of navigating the early stages of entrepreneurship while completing master’s degrees were incredibly challenging. We learned how to be flexible and work as a well oiled machine in which some days I took on more load and other days Maddie took more. This process of balancing academic, professional, and personal challenges led us to become a highly functional team capable of producing quality work in minimal time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://everestmedical.wordpress.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/everestmedicalsolutionsinc/

Image Credits

Ruby Wallau
Jennifer Shaevitz