Puja Padbidri, Founder

PT, MS(USA), CNT (USA), Trauma Informed Professional (USA)

Baby Shastra, previously known as The Yearling House, was set up in June 2012 by Puja Padbidri, a professional neonatal and pediatric physical therapist. After getting her Masters from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Puja worked in the Early Intervention Program for New York and Connecticut, aimed at children between the ages of 0-3 years in the USA for almost a decade.

She returned to India when her son was a few months old and immediately saw a gap in the awareness levels and professional support structures available to new parents. Having parents say they wish they had known something sooner and having regrets about not having access to basic scientific information, is what fuels her passion for Baby Shastra.

As therapist certified to work with preterm babies in the neonatal intensive care units (NICU), Puja has worked with several reputed hospitals in Pune helping implement developmental care in the NICU and high risk follow up clinics. Working with top neonatologists and pediatricians, her aim is to reimage and improve developmental care for better long-term outcomes, supporting families during the hospital stay and after discharge and creating protocols in keeping with international guidelines for surveillance and screening for babies at well baby visits.

Since the inception of Baby Shastra, the mission is to provide access to early detection and intervention, through support and education of parents and professionals.

Note: Baby Shastra was previously known as The Yearling House. Most of our parent information resources still available. (YouTube and blog)

Salient Work history:

• Internationally Certified Neonatal Therapist, first in Pune.
• Internationally certified trauma Informed Professional, first in India
• First in India to provide telehealth services since 2014.
• Free parent support group run by a team of multidisciplinary professionals (link to ecdp)
• Educational seminars hosted by schools and corporates.
• Parent-infant Swim classes to get families comfortable with water and safety.
• Workshops for parents on topics like play, feeding and behavior.
• Workshops for professionals to provide overview of development in the first two years and its use in routine developmental surveillance.
• Author- Book Chapter “Parenting your NICU baby at Home” in “Bringing home a preterm baby: A guide for parents” (link to buy book)
• Research presentations at professional conferences

Updated July 2022.