Opening The Baby Chakra

Founder of popular parenting portal, BabyChakra, Naiyya Saggi’s thriving career did not get in the way of being mum to one year-old Aarya. Despite the initial anxiety she faced, she now reiterates that women CAN have it all!

- Kriselle Fonseca

BabyChakra is a household name in the parenting circuit. The aggregator for child care products and services is one of India’s fastest-growing, and founder Naiyya Saggi is at the helm of it all. We caught up with her at her Mumbai office, where the boss mama shuttled between responding to e-mails and phone calls with investors and chatting with us—a typical day in her life. But this one is different. Because it talks about the journey as a parent. “I’ve never done an interview like this before. I’ve only done talked about BabyChakra and business. This one is special,” she beams!

For someone who makes a living out of guiding to parents and parents-to-be to the right resources, you’d think that she’d have it all together by herself. But finding out she was pregnant was only half as ‘magical’ as it normally is—the implications of her pregnancy on the future of her company left her scared and anxious. “One of the main reasons I held off on having a baby was the impact I thought it would have on the company. I’ve heard of stories of women taking a step back from work, to take a step forward towards making a family. Running a business is a lot of hard work. I have investors and venture funds backing the company, and a huge team to look after. Being the sole founder, there were many questions about what would happen if I were to take time off,” she says.

Her husband Sandeep was the first to point it out. “I remember one morning I woke up feeling extremely nauseous and Sandeep asked ‘Are you pregnant?’. I laughed it off, but the next day, I woke up feeling the same. That’s when we decided to get a pregnancy test,. Turns out, I was, indeed, pregnant,” she reveals.