Health care is the biggest issue of concern to Americans today, both in Washington and around the kitchen table. Simultaneously, the number of women holding power in health care–including many working mothers–is on the rise. From the White House to the executive suite, more working mothers are calling the shots—while also raising children and making health-care decisions for their own families.  So how did we choose workingmother.com’s list of Most Powerful Moms? First, health care must be their primary field and they must have at least one child at home under 18 years old.  And they represent the top of their fields making big decisions or helping to influence them.

In Pictures: Most Powerful Moms in Health Care

Despite the fact that some 50% of students in US medical schools today are female, the glass ceiling is still very much present at the top ranks of hospitals and medical schools. Dr. Julie Freischlag, for instance, is the first woman to hold the position of Chair of the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and just one of three Surgeons-in-Chiefs in the country. Dr. Nancy Andrews in 2007 became the first woman dean of Duke University’s School of Medicine and is currently the only female dean of a top ten US medical school.  Kate Walsh, who was appointed CEO of Boston Medical Center in January, 2010, is one of the few women to hold a top administrative post at a major US hospital.

Perhaps the momentum will begin to change in favor of women now that two women hold top health-related posts in the Obama administration. Kathleen Sebelius (who is not on this list because her children are grown) and Nancy-Ann DeParle (who has two young sons) are both aiming to fix the health care system. Sebelius is Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services while DeParle is the Director of the White House Office of Health Reform. She has already been nicknamed the Obama health czar. Both women face big challenges but wield power to influence health care reform.  

It is in corporate executive ranks where women have arguably made the most headway. WellPoint’s CEO Angela Braly is not only one of the most powerful working mothers in the country but also among the most powerful chief executives. The mother of three (who admittedly gets help from her husband, a stay-at-home dad) heads an insurer that has more than 40,000 employees and reported more than $60 billion in revenues in 2008. Since moving to the top of WellPoint more than two years ago, Braly has worked to make the company a great place for other working mothers. WellPoint offers a mentorship program, flexible hours and help with child care and is on the Working Mother 100 Best Companies list.

Another leading health care executive is Amy Schulman who holds one of the top posts at Pfizer as their general counsel. Besides reinventing the company’s legal approach, Schulman has become a mentor to many women within the company. The advancement of women is key to her career.  Work-life benefits at Pfizer have seen it make the Working Mother 100 Best Companies list.

Other top women in health care are taking the entrepreneurial approach like bio-tech leader Anne Wojcicki who co-founded the DNA testing company 23andMe in 2006. The company is developing new technologies so individuals can better understand their genetic information. Wojcicki and her husband, Google company-found Sergei Brin are relatively new parents with a toddler at home.

In the non-profit sector, women are pioneering health care charity initiatives and lobbying for patients’ rights. Last year, Melinda Gates through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with an endowment of $29.5 billion, gave away hundreds of millions of dollars to fight for quality health care in third world countries. Susan Sheridan, after watching her own family be profoundly affected by preventable medical errors, has dedicated her life to patient safety by founding Consumers Advancing Patient Safety. And Dr. Deborah Peel, a psychiatrist, has devoted her energies to lobbying to protect the control patients have over their medical records.

The increasing influence women have in the health care sector is particularly important since women make of the health care decisions for their families. And hopefully, moms rise to the top, they will make solid decisions to benefit everyone’s families.