What would we do without cell phones? My iPhone has pretty much replaced my laptop these days as I use it to navigate around town, Starbucks in hand, as I respond to email and text messages, shop, bank, surf the web, track my daily calories both eaten and burned, jot lists and remind myself to pick up my kids and a healthy dinner after soccer practice. Did I mention it’s also a phone?

I bet you use your cell phone or other electronics as well in similar ways. And if you’re like most women these days, you’re using the World Wide Web more and more not only as an information channel, but also as a financial management tool, international shopping mall, family calendar keeper, social networking center, filing cabinet, photo box and medical research hub.

You might be surprised to learn that 60% to 80% of women (depending on whose survey you look at and there are plenty of them!) say they now use the Web to search exclusively for expert-authored health information essential for making healthcare decisions for themselves and their family. In fact, just last year, for the first time ever, women said they seek first health information from the Web rather than from their healthcare provider or friends and family—the once-traditional hubs for comparing symptoms and notes.


That’s why you’re here at Health4Women.org. But we're not just any ordinary website—we're backed by the experts of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), one of the oldest and largest women's health, childbearing and newborn nursing organizations dedicated to promoting the health of women and their babies.

As director of publications for AWHONN, I'm happy to tell you that in the last 40 years, if you've struggled with fertility or had a baby, sought expert healthcare regarding issues women often have concerns about, including contraception or menopause, or just had a well-woman check up, you've likely been cared for by an AWHONN nurse. Our experts are in virtually every type of clinical setting in the U.S. and abroad.

According to Gallup Polls, women trust their nurses more than any other healthcare provider. And that makes sense—nurses spend more time with women, providing expert clinical care, advice, education and counseling than any other health care provider.

For more than 10 years now, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) has published women's health consumer magazines and patient information to help nurses promote the health of women and newborns. And to help women promote their own health and their family's health. Now all of that great advice is available to you here at Health4Women.org. But not only do you get expert-authored, evidence-based advice from the clinicians you trust most, we're also adding in everything women like you have told us they want in an online women’s health site:

• More expert-authored information you can trust and act on now


• Personalized healthcare reminders like mammogram checks


• In-depth articles on health issues important to women and their families


• Videos and blogs from leading experts, including the columnists you love from this magazine


• Online shopping for products our health experts think stand above the rest


• Communities where you can post and share your healthcare stories and journeys

Please feel free to dive into the site and continue coming back for more and more great advice you can trust to be based on prevailing health research. Ask our experts a question or two and let us know what health issues you're struggling with. We care—and we're here to help.