“Mom-to-mom support is essential to BABYCENTER®,” Editor in Chief Linda Murray says. “You can ask a question and hundreds of women will respond and say, ‘I went through the same thing and have you tried this?’ Women feel like they’ve made deep friendships with people they’ve met on BABYCENTER®.”
“A Kind of Family”
When Archana Aggarwal and her feverish baby, Shreya, returned from the pediatric clinic in Delhi, she clicked on BABYCENTER® India and saw messages from three moms asking if everything went o.k. That Aggarwal had never met these women didn’t matter. They were her BABYCENTER® friends who had swapped vegetarian recipes and advice on temper tantrums, picky eating and shedding those extra pregnancy pounds.
“It becomes a kind of family,” Aggarwal says.
BABYCENTER® India launched in 2007 and quickly became one of the most popular web sites for new and expectant parents in a country that accounts for 20 percent1 of births worldwide. “We found an overwhelming need to provide online prenatal and parenting information to one of the fastest- growing internet and parenting populations in the world,” says Tina Sharkey, BABYCENTER®, L.L.C. chairman.
In the United States, BABYCENTER® has long been the number one destination for new and expectant parents, reaching 78 percent2 of online pregnant women and mothers of young children. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2007, the only Johnson & Johnson media company is now in 12 markets and six languages and reaches more than 6 million3 monthly visitors worldwide.
BABYCENTER® starts the journey at preconception with tools like the Ovulation Calendar. Then every week expectant parents get a newsletter tailored to their exact stage of pregnancy. With its chat rooms, bulletin boards and birth clubs, some moms forge such deep friendships that they meet in person. BABYCENTER® also offers thousands of articles for parents reviewed by expert advisors and an online store with mom-reviewed products. ParentCenter® continues the experience to age 8. In 2007, BABYCENTER® revamped its site to deliver a more personalized and relevant experience for each parent and to enhance the parent-to-parent interactivity.
Expanding Around the World
BABYCENTER® launched an ambitious expansion plan in 2005, extending its global network from Australia to China and recently to India. Local editors and medical experts make each site culturally meaningful. BABYCENTER® India offers articles on dressing for the monsoon weather and respectfully addresses traditional beliefs. “We provide the right information without being judgmental,” Executive Editor Shrvidya Sen says.
In 2007, BABYCENTER® en Espanol launched for Latina mothers in the U.S. Not only does it address topics of special concern, such as how to find Spanish-speaking doctors, it makes standard parenting information relevant, such as addressing pregnancy concerns related to typical Latino dishes like ceviche. “We don’t believe in a one size fits all experience of pregnancy and motherhood,” says BABYCENTER® en Espanol Executive Editor Isidra Mencos.
The next stops for BABYCENTER® are the Middle East, Latin America and Southeast Asia. But it won’t stop there, Sharkey says: “Our job is to support every parent around the world through their journey.”
BABYCENTER®
ParentCenter®
BABYCENTER® India
BABYCENTER® UK
BABYCENTER® en Español
To view this video, as well as other videos from Johnson & Johnson, visit the Johnson & Johnson Health Channel on YouTube: JNJHealth
1 Source: Unicef State of India’s Newborns 2004
2 Source: Internal calculations using 2006 Census data, Q2 2007 Comscore, and Omniture Site Catalyst
3 Source: Comscore, Q2 2007