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When Bhavani moved to India from the US,her mind was abuzz with questions – which school to send her kids to,which doctor to take them to,and so on. “And who better to give advice than fellow moms!” she quips. Thus on August 15,2008,she started Chennaimoms.com and the great response it received prompted her to start the same across different cities. “Pune is the most recent. It’s receiving good response,” says the founder and administrator of the site. One of its users – Velvizhi Perumal – seconds that. Velvizhi shifted to Pune from Chennai in June 2009 and the website has been quite a friend to her. “The site is especially useful for those who are new to this place. We can connect with different moms and even get expert advice from gynaecologists,pediatricians. Other moms also pitch in with solutions to different problems,” she says. Velvizhi has a four-year-old daughter and being a working mom,she finds the website a convenient tool to gain information. “It’s also a form of social networking. I stay at Magarpatta City and I’ve just created a group for this locality so that I can connect with other moms who live here,” she says.

Another user Deepali Nerkar,who registered on the website six months ago,says,“I’m a working professional and this website saves time in finding information about schools and doctors for our kids. One can share everything related to kids with other users. I log on about once or twice a month to update myself with the latest ‘mom’ issues.”

The website is constantly updated by users – one may give a remedy for pregnant women to sleep well while another may offer a quick-fix medicinal solution. Apart from connecting like-minded mothers and giving them a common platform to share beauty and fashion tips,recipes and views on teens and in-laws,the site also has an expert panel of counsellors,psychiatrists,pediatricians and gynaecologists. “Any user can post a question and the panel replies to it. The name of the user is never mentioned and we protect her identity,” says Bhavani.

Mom talks
* Schools
* Pediatricians/Gynaecologists
* Recipes
* Pregnancy issues
* Baby name suggestions
* Healthy tips
* Locality issues
* Numerology
* Beauty tips