Browsing through motherhood

Being pregnant is not easy. Any would-be mom would tell you her hands are more than full while dealing with physical, mental and emotional changes and planning the arrival of the little one.

So wouldn’t life be a little easier if you could shop for your baby with the click of the mouse, or discuss your concerns with other to-be-moms or even perhaps find the time for gainful employment while you enjoy the glow of parenthood? Online forums for mothers-to-be are an increasing tribe today. You could be anywhere in the world and share your experiences or shop for the baby, right from the comfort of your home.

Babyoye.com, an internet shopping destination for pregnancy and childcare products is the latest entrant in the online world. Co-founder and director Arunima Singhdeo says her clientele is surging by the day. “Putting the baby’s room together is a task. A lot of parents end up in hurried buys, exhausted by visiting different stores to find the right products. We wanted to give them an alternative, where they could order online and have it delivered at their doorstep,” she offers.

Sairee Chahal, Co-founder of Fleximoms.com, a portal which helps young moms to find part-time assignments, restructure their careers and get their groove back in the corporate world says that the expectant and young working mothers segments is a growing one. “A lot of very qualified women fracture their careers as they take on parenthood. Our aim is to fill this gap, where we can map this workforce with flexible assignments,” she offers.

Among industries, which welcome the new-mom demographic are social media writing, policy documentation, consulting in law or accountancy among others, points out Sairee.  Fleximoms.com also offers career and professional advice on how to manage job expectations, communications, get back from a career break and even draft the right out of office reply, when heading for a maternity break.

So how comfortable is the mom brigade logging in to these options? “Online sites for moms can be very helpful,” says writer Christobelle Gnanakan, who is now a mom to three children. Her parents, Christobelle offers, live abroad and during each of her pregnancies, online sites almost filled in for her own mom’s advice. “There have been times when my kids have been sick in the middle of the night and I have found help online,” she says. However, she is quick to caution that one has to be careful about picking information and that medicating based on online information is not the right thing to do. However finding clues about a behaviour pattern, or a sickness pattern is a possibility.

Sayanti Sen, who is a recent mom, agrees, saying that discretion is the key to accessible information online. However, shopping sites or career sites for moms-to-be or young mothers are a great help, she explains. “There was a time during my pregnancy, when I didn’t want to step out of the house, but still wanted to work. The internet really helped me in finding short-term employment and not get completely bored being at home,” she remembers.

But in spite of the online platform being a great place to find baby advice, pregnancy mantras and even job, sometimes the journey of motherhood does want tangible happiness over internet accessibility. As Christobelle says, “I have enjoyed shopping for books online too. But have always gone shopping for the baby’s wardrobe. That’s something I couldn’t give up for the joy of the real feel.”