Support Your Local Mom

Close to half of all married women with infants are employed, yet
it is still typically the mother who assumes primary responsibility for
baby's care. For some working moms, juggling career and family runs
smoothly; others don't fare quite as well.

It's not the actual burden of child care that determines working
moms' distress, contends a University of California at San Francisco
researcher. While bearing the brunt of responsibility does have a
negative effect, two other factors also come into play -- and they are
closely related:

o Regardless of the actual division of child care, it is extremely
important for a mother to be able to count on enlisting her husband's
help should she need him.

o The knowledge of such support increases mom's perceived
capability to juggle work and baby care -- improving her outlook and
reducing overall stress.

Elizabeth Ozer studied 42 married women from the last month
of their pregnancy to one month after they returned to work (usually
within three months after giving birth). By measuring the moms' degree of
child care responsibility, how confident they felt in combining the
demands of work and home, psychological distress and well-being, Ozer
found that a woman's belief in her ability to manage multiple roles
contributes significantly to her overall satisfaction.

And who has the greatest influence on that belief? None other than
daddy. Whether or not mommies believed that their jobs or even their
friends were flexible enough to help out in a crisis, dads' willingness
to help out (if mom gets stuck in a meeting, for instance) greatly
influenced their well-being regardless of whether she actually uses his
help. Conversely, if dad's attitude toward baby care stinks, the time he
puts in doesn't matter; mom still feels extra stressed.

The bottom line? Happy working moms need supportive dads.