Pregnancy, Baby And Beyond… Information Overload!

Whether you are trying to conceive, are already pregnant, or just had a baby, there aren’t many moments in a parent’s life that are more overwhelming and exciting.  In the digital world we live in, we are fortunate to have a wealth of information available at our fingertips.  Unfortunately, with all the resources offered, one may suffer from “information overload” or “mass anxiety” like I did pre and post pregnancy.  Being a research junkie, I dove right into every book I could as well as every website related to pregnancy, babies, parenting, birthing and more.  The other day, during a “researching” moment, I came across some pretty fantastic things I thought I would share. 

Fantastic Thing # 1:  The Webby Awards

Fantastic Thing # 2:  http://www.babycenter.com

The Webby Awards just celebrated their 16th year and honored amazing websites internationally.  The Webby Awards were created for the digital world we live in and are simply genius!  They reward the Best Of The Best Websites, Interactive Advertising & Media, Online Film And Video As well as Mobile And Apps.  Each nominee has an opportunity to win “The Webby Award” or “The Webby People’s Voice Award” since two honors are presented in each category.

The babycenter.com website was not only nominated by The Webby Awards, they won both ”The Webby Award” and “The Webby People’s Voice Award” in the Family/Parenting category.   Intrigued, and wanting to know more about each winning website, I obviously needed take a moment to click on each link and peruse through them.  As a parent, the babycenter website was the first link I clicked on.  Assuming that I would spend a short time browsing through each winning website was a mistake.  Once I entered babycenter.com, I was immediately hooked.

Remembering the experiences I had while planning my pregnancy, and as a budding mother to be, my immediate thought process while the website loaded was that I would be inundated once more with too much information.  My actual reaction though, was quite the opposite.  The website’s colors, blue and white, had a peaceful appearance.  The layout of the website is basic.  The order of categories make sense, beginning with pre-pregnancy, through baby and beyond.  Other great features offered by babycenter.com, include a timeline from pre-pregnancy to adolescent years.  The website offers readers an opportunity to receive weekly emails regarding a child’s development.  They even have a free birth class app available for download!  Babycenter.com offers so many features, it would be impossible to note them all!  What sets babycenter.com apart from similar websites I have visited, is the ease of navigating through the site, excellent content that is easy to read, and great information appropriate for parents as well as caregivers.  Not only does the site cover standard material every parent should be aware of, it has a candid appeal too.  An added bonus is the “Is It Normal” section.  As soon as I entered the page, I started to giggle!  Almost every question I read, was a question I had wanted to ask while pregnant and during my little one’s toddler years.  Even more amusing, the “Is It Normal” section had an answer for a preschooler question I currently had!  Overall, babycenter.com is a great website which I have already shared with most of my friends!