Community Highlights: Meet Emma Rukhotskiy of Bili Blanket Baby

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Rukhotskiy.

Emma, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m Emma Rukhotskiy, founder and CEO of Bili Blanket Baby. I started the company in 2014, but the story really began years earlier when I became a mom. All four of my children were born with jaundice and needed phototherapy. Each time, I saw how stressful and confusing it was for families to figure out how to get safe, effective treatment and still be able to hold, feed, and bond with their babies.

I have a PhD in Community and Prevention Research, so my brain is wired to look at systems and ask, “How could this be better?” I knew there had to be a way to keep more babies out of the NICU when it was safe, reduce rehospitalization, and protect that early bonding time that is so important for both babies and parents.

That’s what led me to create Bili Blanket Baby. We started small, serving local pediatricians and families one order at a time.

Over time, we’ve grown into a company based in Boulder, Colorado that has kept many thousands of babies out of the NICU and home with their families, while still receiving hospital-grade phototherapy under their pediatrician’s care.
Today we provide same-day bili blanket rentals in multiple states, along with breast pumps, maternity essentials, and lactation services. The mission has stayed the same from day one: help all families stay together, at home, during one of the most vulnerable times in their lives.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a perfectly smooth road, more like a winding one with lots of learning curves.

One of the biggest challenges has been logistics. When a baby needs phototherapy, every hour matters. We built an operation that is open 7 days a week, 365 days a year, with phototherapy services available from 8am–8pm MT, because babies don’t schedule their jaundice around business hours! We also deliver bili blankets within about four hours in the regions we serve, which requires tight coordination with pediatric offices, faxed orders, inventory management, and delivery teams.

Another ongoing challenge has been awareness. Many families, and even some medical providers, don’t initially realize that home phototherapy is an option when it’s clinically appropriate. A lot of my early work was simply educating pediatricians, hospitals, and community organizations about how home treatment can keep lower-risk babies at home while freeing up NICU beds for the sickest infants. Similarly, as Colorado moved to cover breast pumps and lactation services under medicaid, we rushed to be able to both become a preferred provider and get the word out. I believe, to this date, we are one of very few DME and Lactation Group providers that is enrolled in medicaid plans in the state of Colorado.

Further, we have also been very intentional about access and equity. Expanding services to expecting mothers on Medicaid and underserved communities meant navigating complex insurance systems and building trust with clinics and community partners. It’s slower, more relational work, but it’s also some of the most meaningful. We offer the same pump options, support, and service level to every family we work with.

Through all of that, what’s kept me going are the families. Every time a parent says, “We got to keep our baby at home with us because of you,” it makes every challenge worth figuring out.

We’ve been impressed with Bili Blanket Baby , but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Bili Blanket Baby is a durable medical equipment company and a lactation group, but more so we view ourselves as a support company focused on helping families treat newborn jaundice at home and supporting feeding and recovery in those early weeks. We develop relationships with care providers to partner together with families to make sure babies and moms are thriving at home. These relationships really have stood the test of time and allowed us to grow as a company while keeping true to our mission.

What we do / what we’re known for:
We provide home phototherapy (“bili blanket”) rentals so babies with jaundice can receive hospital-grade treatment at home, under their pediatrician’s guidance, instead of being admitted or readmitted to the hospital when it’s safe to treat at home. Our bili blankets are hospital-grade devices, tested and disinfected between every rental, and meet or exceed American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines.

We’ve expanded into breast pumps, maternity supplies, and lactation services, so families can get support for jaundice, feeding, and parental recovery from the same compassionate team. We have provided breastpumps to thousands of expectant and new moms and held many hundreds of lactation appointments on telehealth and in-home.

What sets us apart:
We are backed by research, fast, and deeply personal.

We scale with heart:
Since founding, we’ve helped keep more than 20,000 babies out of the NICU and home with their families, and we now offer same-day bili blanket rentals in Arizona, Colorado, California, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas. But we still operate relationship-driven practice. Every order represents a real baby and a very anxious family, and that truly matters to us.

Our commitment to equity:
I’m especially proud of our expansion into breast pump rentals and lactation support for expecting mothers on Medicaid and other underserved communities. That work is about more than equipment. It’s about making sure families who are often left out of the system get excellent care early. We’ve found that many durable medical equipment companies actively avoid taking Medicaid due to the systemic challenges, low reimbursements, and unwillingness to work through associated hurdles. We are proud to focus most of our effort in that challenging system to make sure we can take steps to improve access to care and supplies for all families.

I am so proud of our Team:
At the heart of everything we do is a truly exceptional team full of highly driven, deeply compassionate, and incredibly smart women. We are a diverse group of women who show up every day not just because it’s a job, but because we believe wholeheartedly in our mission.

We are driven by purpose:
Our team shares a personal commitment to helping families. We know what it’s like to be in their shoes, to feel anxious, hopeful, and determined to do whatever it takes to keep a baby at home. That level of dedication fuels our work, whether we’re optimizing logistics, educating pediatricians, or supporting parents through difficult conversations.

We put empathy in action:
We don’t just deliver equipment; we offer reassurance. From our customer-support calls to our follow-up care, every interaction is infused with warmth and understanding. Some of us are parents ourselves (or have been in the NICU world). We understand the stress and fragility of that early bonding period, and we treat every family like our own.

We are committed to equity:
One of our greatest strengths is the diversity of our backgrounds and lived experiences, and that diversity drives our commitment to underserved communities. We ensure access to lactation support and breast-pump rentals for Medicaid families, a piece of work that’s deeply rooted in justice. Our team doesn’t shy away from the systemic challenges; we lean in, because access to care should never depend on someone’s ZIP code or insurance status.

What I’m most proud of, brand-wise:
I’m proud that when people think of Bili Blanket Baby, they don’t just think “medical equipment company.” They think of a compassionate, evidence-based partner who will walk with them through a scary diagnosis, answer their questions, respect their feeding choices, and do everything we can to keep their baby in their arms at home.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://biliblanketbaby.com/
• Phototherapy / Bili Blanket Services: 877-593-BILI (2454), 8am–8pm MT, 7 days a week, holidays included. Breast pump & lactation support: 877-593-2499, 8am–4pm MT, Monday–Friday.
• General info: info@biliblanketbaby.com
• Orders: orders@biliblanketbaby.com

Image Credits
Stephanie Tucker