Kimberly-Clark offers site on parenting

Tuesday, April 18th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Kimberly-Clark Corp., the Irving-based manufacturer of disposable products for small children and the elderly, has launched an online network for parents of unborn babies and children up to 12 years of age.

Parentstages.com, the name of the new online publication, will enable those parents to quickly access the best parenting information available on the Web, the company announced Monday.

"In essence, Parentstages.com is a virtual compass that helps busy parents quickly navigate their way through the wealth of parenting information available on the Web," Kimberly-Clark's executive vice-president Kathi Seifert said in a prepared statement.

"Working in partnership with a number of leading online content providers, Parentstages.com puts consumers in touch with credible and useful information that allows them to make well-informed decisions," Ms. Seifert said.

The initial partners of the online magazine include the likes of Ivillage.com, a woman's network; Urbanbaby.com, a resource for planning an urban baby; Salon.com, a magazine covering a variety of topics, including politics; Totalwoman.com, a network focusing on health, work, home and other issues for women; and CBShealthwatch.com, a Web site offering personal health information.

Tina Barry, vice president of corporate communications at Kimberly-Clark, said the contents will be changed about once a week.

Current articles deal with a variety of issues such as Baby Gear 101, tips and advice for parents with children of all ages, and Bringing Up Baby, advice on how to create and to stick to a new family budget even before the first child is born.

Although Kimberly-Clark is not disclosing the details of the financial arrangements with the online magazine's partners, the publication should not be viewed as e-commerce, Ms. Barry said.

The purpose of the magazine "is to build brand loyalty and establish relationships with consumers...with parents of small children," she said.