Last minute care

A surprising discovery in the FCCC study was how mothers chose their childcare. Penelope Leach said mothers planning to return to work gathered information from the media, leaflets and friends. 'However, as maternity leave passed, remarkably few used the information they had collected. Many didn't go looking for childcare at all until the very last moment. A surprisingly large number of women didn't ever look for childcare, but just let it happen to them at the very last moment.' Her research found that few mothers asked about references or training, and many didn't understand the differences between nannies and au...