I feel that when I decide to have children I will stay out of work if I am able to do so and focus on bringing them up. When they are at an age where they are more independent I don’t see a problem in me going back to my career, even if it is only part time. I think it’s important to make time to pursue my own interests as I would probably go insane if I didn’t have my own time. I don’t think that mothers who work are neglecting their children. If anything they are giving an important message that women should be able to go out and work like men do, without being criticised. The changes which have occurred in society are obvious when I compare what my life as a mother could be like in relation to how my great grandmother was expected to be.

Sometimes I think that we just have to get a grip on this whole attitude towards motherhood and child-rearing and stop this eternal guilt-trip for working mothers. The role of women has changed considerably during the last century. Economic, social, political and educational influences have particularly combined to have an effect. During the First World War (1914-18) when the men went off to fight, there were massive skills shortages. This meant that the effect on the role of women was profound. Women were encouraged to take on new and challenging roles. They drove buses, worked in factories, in offices and on the land doing many of the jobs previously assigned to men.

Rhoda, my mother-in-law, went to London to train as a nurse when she was 18. That was in 1928 when women still didn’t have the vote. By the time Britain was at war again in 1939, she had risen to the ranks of theatre sister.

I was born in 1949 into a working class family . Most women we knew returned to work when their children were small. My sister was born 7 years later. Mum went back to work when her new off-spring was 15 months old and Susan went to the nursery. My dad was a ‘modern man’ who cooked, cleaned and participated in the joint responsibilities of child-rearing. My older daughter is now 31 and works in London where many of the young women in her age-bracket are struggling with their life/work balance. I asked her this question last night, “Should mothers of young children feel guilty about going back to work?” Her answer an emphatic NO!

The bottom line is life is a balancing act. It’s not a new problem, just a different one. Let’s just love our children, value our jobs, make the mostof our lives…and get on with it!!

I always felt very strongly that children needed ‘Mums At Home’ during their formative years. Fifty years ago, when my children were young, I do not remember there being any ‘Working Mums’ in my immediate community. We had a vibrant group of mothers and we organised plenty of opportunities for our children to associate and play together so that their social interaction developed well. I took nine years off from my career till the youngest child was old enough for nursery education. That is the way things were in the sixties. I then became a ‘Working Mum’. Since my 30 year career was spent in education I was always able to be with my children and monitor their activities. How lucky I was!!

These days mothers cannot afford to have those luxury years. One never knows when redundancy will hit a partnership and careers are too valuable economically to be forfeited and progress lost. I cannot imagine how parents cope with nursery prices at £250 a week! School holidays must be a nightmare when children are beyond the nursery stage. If grandparents are not available to help, how do young ‘Working Mums’ cope these days?

I am a working mum. I have been since my daughter was 7 weeks old - staying home was not an option. Of course I have never stopped beating myself up about it! I was incredibly lucky to find a fantastic and affordable child minder. Joy looked after my daughter for 6 years Although my job is busy and very stressful it has also given Zoe great opportunities. She has travelled with me across Europe and met people from all over the world.

I am biased, but Zoe, 16, has grown in to a confident, self-assured young lady, with great communication skills and a well-developed sense of humour. Much needed with a stressed out, hardworking, but neurotic mother!

However, I remember feeling almost ashamed of being a working mum when I occasionally joined other mums on the school playground. I actually felt patronised, as if they felt sorry for me that I “had to work”. As time went on I dealt with this feeling of exclusion by becoming heavily involved with the PTA at school, opening a door into my daughter’s educational life and the Mum’s Club that I longed to join.