Screenshot of the website

Bhubaneswar, May 23: A local techie has come up with a website for new and expecting parents.

Shakti Prasad Palo, 36, has built www.pinksteps.com, an information portal for new and expecting parents.

He conceptualised and created the website to make the job of parenting a wee bit easier. Palo said after his daughter, Misha, was born three years ago, he and his wife faced numerous challenges — starting from finding a good paediatrician to the ideal baby food and toys.

“I turned to the Internet for help but could not find reliable information. I realised many new and expecting parents were struggling with such problems while bringing up their child. That is when I thought of creating a web portal that would fulfil the needs of parents and children,” he said.

Palo launched the website after almost two-and-half years of work. Pinksteps.com, which receives about 20 to 30 hits everyday, features exclusive listings regarding diet, nutrition, diseases, medicines and immunisation, besides an organised list of paediatricians, health centres and schools in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur for parents to refer to.

The site also caters to their shopping needs and has a long list of kids’ stores in the three cities.

“Many people have appreciated this initiative and I am trying to provide listings for schools, doctors and shopping centres for all the major cities of the state,” said Palo, who wishes to extend the services to all districts of the state in a phased manner.

The site also allows advertisers of maternity and baby products to market their services.

The techie is now planning to add another feature to the website — online exchange between doctors and parents. He is currently in talks with reputed doctors for collaboration and has got positive response from some of them. “The online consultation will be introduced by next month where parents can put forth their queries or mail copies of medical reports for quick advice free of cost,” he said.

Palo, who has spent nearly Rs 3 lakh on the website so far, said he would arrange for financial assistance from city hospitals to make the online consultation service a reality.