Adonica Shaw is behind a historic invention aimed at advancing outcomes in women’s health.
The Pasadena, LA native’s journey began with lived experience. While giving birth to her third child, she witnessed firsthand the gaps in maternal care, insights that would later shape her work. In 2017, she was diagnosed with preeclampsia and hospitalized six weeks before her due date. Although she delivered safely, she experienced serious postpartum complications.
“I lost consciousness,” she told AFROTECH™.
Days later, she was discharged with little guidance beyond managing her blood pressure. As she navigated recovery, she also faced postpartum depression. That sense of isolation pushed her to build Wingwomen Inc., a SaaS platform launched in 2022 as a safe space for high-profile women to discuss reproductive health. But after Roe v. Wade was overturned, many users became hesitant to engage. Shaw ultimately shut down the platform and pivoted to a storefront in South Boston. That venture shuttered in 2024.
Still, the experience proved foundational. She redirected her focus toward redesigning medical tools to improve reproductive health outcomes through her company Operyx™. Shaw had design expertise, completed midwifery school in 2025, and became a certified doula.
Her innovation journey began with redesigning the vaginal speculum, and creating the AI-driven platform and biodata collection tool, NINA, according to Med Tech. It earned her the FemTech Device of the Year award from MedTech World in Dubai, per Femtech Insider.
Her portfolio now includes more than 20 women’s health innovations, and she has developed dozens of ergonomic surgical tools, according to information shared with AFROTECH™.
Shawryx Titanium Obstetric Forceps
Her latest invention, the Shawryx Titanium Obstetric Forceps, is improving safety in childbirth. Historically, when not used properly, forcepts can cause cerebral palsy, facial injuries, or damage to the brain or nerves, Justia reports.
“They were contributing to malpractice lawsuits … So I was like ‘I wonder if we redesign it using the old lawsuits and change the material, maybe from a heavier grade stainless steel to something lighter like titanium? I wonder if we can reduce the incidence of cerebral palsy,'” Shaw explained.
She presented the concept to the FDA, received a re-exemption, and moved forward. The Shawryx Titanium Obstetric Forceps — which come in gold, rose gold, blue, and champagne — feature ergonomic handle geometry to reduce hand strain, improve torque control, and support neutral wrist alignment under pressure. Their refined blades are designed to minimize maternal and fetal trauma, according to information shared with AFROTECH™. The device is also compatible with existing obstetric training and techniques.
Shaw claims to be the first known woman of color to redesign and manufacture ergonomic obstetric forceps and the first redesign to “incorporate modern ergonomics, operator diversity, and litigation-aware safety engineering,” according to a press release shared with AFROTECH™.
According to the National Library of Medicine, forceps-assisted delivery has been a means of preventing maternal and neonatal morbidity since the 16th century. The practice was later developed by obstetricians, including James Young Simpson, Robert Barnes, and Christian Kielland. Shaw specifically redesigned the Kielland Style Obstetric Forceps, as noted on her LinkedIn.
“Given that all of the other iterations of the tool were generally made by men and male physicians, they’ve never had a tool like that inserted into them,” Shaw said. “I’m a woman, I was born anatomically female. Being knowledgeable enough about what the design looks like and bridging that to how does that feel, I think, is a huge advantage.”
“We hear so many different stories about how Black women’s bodies were tested on for the development of gynecological tools in the 1600s, 1700s … We were always the subjects, we were never the inventors,” Shaw added. “We were never invited into the space of having the authority to design the tools that the doctors would use … The fact that I’m a Black woman is not intended to be political, but I know it’s gonna shake the ground because again, it’s not a space that would’ve ever opened a door for us.”
Shaw plans to introduce the Shawryx Titanium Obstetric Forceps through partnerships with skilled surgeons at major hospitals, using their feedback to further refine the tool.
Shaw recently introduced a redesign of the atraumatic forceps, called the Calibryx Titanium Atraumatic Forceps, which is a heart health and surgical tool for cardiology, inspired by cardiologist Dr. Michael Debakey’s Debakey Design, she told AFROTECH™. It marks her first obstetrics and gynecology device.
“My stabilizing tail is a distinct design feature. I created the carve-out so the tool can rest on the wedge of the hand of surgeons during long cases to ‘stabilize’ the tool and potentially prevent hand fatigue or injury,” she said in a press release.
The tool will soon be available in several stock keeping units in Brazil and Thailand.
