54 Percent of Moms Say They're Over Scheduled; Momtourage, New iVillage Resource...

54 Percent of Moms Say They're Over Scheduled; Momtourage, New iVillage
Resource Unveiled Today, to Provide Relief

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- In a move to lighten the
load of modern day mothers, iVillage is revealing a special preview of
Momtourage, a new online initiative featuring the people, organizations, and
businesses that help moms manage the pressures of everyday life. A sneak peak
of the program, which will launch this July, is available now on iVillage's
Pregnancy and Parenting Channel, http://www.ivillage.com/momtourage. The
initiative will be a two-way dialogue with mothers and invites them to make
iVillage a valued member of their Momtourage. The iVillage Momtourage comes on
the heels of a new survey from Roper and iVillage, in which mothers voice
their concerns about how to manage it all, including family finances, single
parenting, and child care.
Three in ten (31 percent) mothers surveyed say they are raising a child
alone, and 48 percent report that their companies do not offer parenting
benefits like flexible scheduling or cultures that makes it acceptable to
bring their children to work when necessary.
"No mom goes it alone," said Carla Drysdale, Managing Editor at iVillage,
the first and largest community of women online. "A Momtourage gives mothers
the village they need to help them raise their kids every day," said Ms.
Drysdale, who counts her husband and the women she met online as part of her
Momtourage. "They're the people who allow us to navigate and conquer the
jumble of responsibilities, circumstances, and choices that make up our lives
and we hope to help women make iVillage an important member of their
Momtourage."
Not only will iVillage be sharing information and advice with moms as part
of Momtourage, it will also invite them to join the conversation. Real moms
will be highlighted as part of the iVillage Momtourage initiative talking
about who they rely on for support and giving advice based on personal
successes. The iVillage Momtourage program will feature mom-on-the street
videos as well as handy information about how to choose babysitters and
childcare groups; make cleaning a household activity; join community cooking
groups; and tips for unwinding after it all. iVillage will also be holding a
Momtourage sweepstakes over the summer to further help moms and their
Momtourages.
The iVillage Roper survey found that moms feel unequipped to handle the
scope of duties that fall in their domain saying that they would like help.
The iVillage Momtourage will offer support for these concerns including: --
doing household chores (44 percent)
-- running errands (41 percent)
-- maintaining the family finances (40 percent)
-- organizing themselves and their families (37 percent)
-- managing their families' health (25 percent)
-- developing parenting skills (20 percent)
-- achieving more personal challenges like losing weight (41 percent)

"With our new initiative devoted to the Momtourage we hope to further our
goal of helping women strengthen the bonds that make it so much easier to
succeed in all the aspects of motherhood," said Diane Randall, Pregnancy and
Parenting Channel Editorial Director for iVillage. "Through this process, we
hope that iVillage will continue to be an important part of women's
Momtourages and their daily lives."
For more information about building a Momtourage, visit
http://www.ivillage.com/momtourage.
About iVillage:
iVillage Inc., a division of NBC Universal, is the first and largest media
company dedicated exclusively to connecting women at every stage of their
lives. Ranked the #1 online destination for women with 31 million unique
visitors (comScore MediaMetrix), iVillage.com offers an authentic community
infused with compelling content from experts on health, parenting, pregnancy,
beauty, style, fitness, relationships, food and entertainment. The site's
interactive features include thousands of message boards and a wide variety of
social networking tools, allowing women around the world to connect, share
ideas, and seek advice and support about everything from fertility to fashion.
Established in 1995, iVillage's brand extensions include iVillage UK,
iVillage Total Health and owned sites Astrology.com, GardenWeb and gURL.com,
in addition to the Newborn Channel. The company, acquired by NBC Universal in
May 2006, is based in New York.
About The Poll:
The poll results contained in this release are based on telephone
interviews conducted for iVillage by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media from
April 25 - 27, 2008. A total of 1,004 interviews were completed, with 523
female adults and 481 male adults. The margin of error for this study is +/- 3
percentage points for the full sample.
Contact: Hollie Pantano
Edelman
212-642-7745
Hollie.pantano@edelman.com

SOURCE iVillage Inc.

Hollie Pantano of Edelman, +1-212-642-7745, Hollie.pantano@edelman.com, for
iVillage