BabyChakra launches community-created product range led by founder and new mum Naiyya Saggi

A number of exciting things are happening at BabyChakra, India’s first and largest platform catering to 2.5 million mothers and comprising over 2,000 experts from various fields.

The platform launched in 2015 has become a preferred destination for new mums (and dads) for anything related to babycare and parenting.

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So, it comes as no surprise that the platform has used this large community of mothers and doctors to build a range of products tailored to Indian mums, children, and the home. It has come up with India’s first-ever baby-safe range of hand sanitiser and handwash, which is alcohol-free.

Says Naiyya Saggi, Founder, BabyChakra, “This was a huge latent demand as shared in millions of conversations with our community of parents and seconded by our doctors. With the rise in flu cases and infections as also with more parents travelling in public spaces such as malls and airports, these products are essential for every family with a baby or child at home.” 

Right from crowdsourcing the tagline for the range #CareComesFirst (a winning entry by a Taslim, a community member) to co-creating a “clean label” of easily understandable and 100 percent naturally derived ingredients that mothers and doctors both approved, Naiyya says, the brand has stuck to the core community principles of trust, transparency, and inclusivity.

“Even the branding and each element of the text (reviews as well) and pricing has been done through popular voting with mothers in our community across more than 1,700 cities and towns in India,” she adds. 

The other product launched is the Fruit and Vegetable Wash for clean nutrition.

Naiyya explains, “Mothers and gynaecologists also told us about the high level of pesticide usage in our fruits and vegetables. During pregnancy and in early childhood, it is critical to eat more of fruits and vegetables in our meals. So we also created a 100 percent vegetarian, naturally derived fruit and vegetable wash for our pregnant mums and families with children at home so they could enjoy safe and clean nutrition. Our mothers also requested for this to be multi-purpose so this cleanser can also be used to clean child feeding tools (like plates, spoons, bottles etc) and also toys.”

Each unit shipped contains a personal note from one of BabyChakra’s 500 mothers, who were a part of the community that led the innovation and launch of the range. The products are available on its own website and as well as other key ecommerce sites.

Being a new mum herself, Naiyya felt the absence of alcohol-free products like handwash and sanitisers for children in the market disconcerting, which led to this community initiative.

“When my baby Arya was six months old and had started crawling, she was putting her fingers into her mouth. I was also taking her to different places. My own personal experience with products and those of mothers on the platform helped us to come up with these products that are ‘baby safe’ and totally vegetarian,” she says.

BabyChakra has seen significant growth in the past few years where the concept of parenting and parenting tools has seen so much evolution. Her daughter Arya recently turned one, and Naiyya says the last year has been a crazy one.

“There was exciting stuff happening at BabyChakra and at home. Becoming a mum gave me a deeper insight into parenting along with the amazing set of people who work with me. It’s a different joy altogether,” she says.

While she returned to work almost immediately after delivery, she wouldn’t recommend that other mothers do the same.

“I was on the phone the day after Arya was born, and back to office in three weeks. It was a critical period and we were closing a funding round. It was not the smartest thing to do. And that’s why I tell my teammates to take six months maternity leave and let the body recover,” she says.

Plans are on to launch more products in the next few months.

(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)