ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., July 14 -- For over a decade, women on the iVillage message boards have been connecting with each other about being pregnant, becoming moms and how they get it all done. Today, iVillage.com, the first and most established community of women online, officially launched Momtourage, an exclusive online initiative that celebrates moms and the people who help them raise their kids (the "mom-entourage"), with robust new features, tools and content.

The just-launched "Momtourage Showcase" is a special opportunity for moms to send in their stories and advice for a chance to add an additional member to their Momtourage, either a personal chef, babysitter or professional cleaner. The three Grand Prize Winners will also receive a special dinner, prepared by a contestant from Bravo's Top Chef program, to share with the people who help them get it all done -- their Momtourage members. The Grand Prize Winners' momtourage members can also each receive a $500 spa gift certificate.

Users can enter for a chance to win by visiting www.momtourage.com starting today through August 1, 2008. A panel of iVillage editors and celebrity judges will select the ten finalists on August 15, 2008, based upon the criteria in the official rules.

The iVillage community will also get to vote for their favorite entries from August 18, 2008 through August 29, 2008. After voting, users will be directed to a sweepstakes area for a chance to win daily prizes. Users can also access the sweepstakes by visiting www.momtourage.com.

For moms' busy Back to School season, new features, at www.momtourage.com are designed to be used and shared by moms and their Momtourages to make life easier. They include:

  • -- Printable tips on Creating a Dining Co-op, Hosting a Swap, and Building a Babysitting Co-op: solutions for moms and their Momtourages when time is too short to cook, when schedules are too tight to find babysitters, or when they need an easy way to update or purge the closet of last year's back-to-school gear.

  • -- A Kids' Snack Swapper Tool, to help find nutritious substitutes for junk food lovers and picky eaters alike.

  • -- 'Say Thanks' E-Cards, to help moms thank their Momtourage for all the big -- and little -- things they do.

  • -- The Babysitter Cheat Sheet, designed to help moms share their must-know family details with the caregivers in their Momtourages.

  • -- Tips for Back to School Family Meals from real moms.

    iVillage Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of NBC Universal, Inc., 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 29 million unique visitors (comScore MediaMetrix, May 2008), 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, Inc. in May 2006, is based in New York.