Surprisingly for an independent school, it's not a sex or drugs scandal that has brought St Mary's in Calne, Wiltshire, to the public attention. It's simply that the girls' school's headmistress Dr Helen Wright, like thousands of other women, has given birth.

But unlike these women, 39-year-old Dr Wright has had her baby and gone straight back to work. And I mean straight back. A mere seven hours after labor she was behind her desk, baby Jessica in tow. And instead of being sectioned, she's being lauded as a pioneer in the work-life-balance debate.

'People expect me to be pretty special and a role model,' she trilled when interviewed about her decision to go without maternity leave. 'Most mothers want their daughters to have the exhilarating excitement of a career they love and the joy of a family. I have that and I want to show the girls at St Mary's that's not an impossible dream.'

She then blithely suggested that women should consider the alternative to paying for childcare or looking after their children at home - taking their babies to work with them.

As any woman who has ever worked will know, this is ridiculous. As a teacher, I can't possibly bring my daughter into the classroom. What doctor, lawyer or shop assistant could bring their children to work?

I would argue that - despite what my generation was told 20 years ago - most women can't have it all, and anyone who continues to perpetuate the myth is behaving with criminal irresponsibility.

Far more honest is Jill Berry, the headmistress of Dame Alice Harpur in Bedford, another exclusive independent girls' school. Women, she says, can succeed in their careers and they can succeed at motherhood, but to do both is impossible without huge sacrifices.

Source
PregnancyWeekly.com