NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although most women returning to work after giving birth would prefer that Dad or another relative provide care of the baby, fewer than one quarter of new mothers end up with the type of child care they prefer, according to new study findings.

Dr. Lisa A. Riley, of Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, and Dr. Jennifer L. Glass, of the University of Iowa in Iowa City, interviewed 247 pregnant women to find out what kind of child care they would prefer once they had a baby and returned to work.

Eighty-four percent of the women wanted their husband, partner or some other relative to take care of their baby at home. A little more than half of the mothers-to-be said that they would want the baby's father to provide child care when they had to be at work.

When the researchers interviewed the mothers after they had returned to work, however, they found that most women were not able to arrange their preferred type of child care.

Just more than half of the women had their child cared for at home or in the home of a relative. Only 23% of the women said that their husband or partner took care of their baby when they were at work.

"Parents strongly prefer parental care for infants in the first year of life but are having a hard time carving out time and money to do this," Glass told Reuters Health.

The investigators found that women who worked an evening or night shift were more likely to have family members provide child care when they were at work. Women who worked fewer hours were also more likely to have family members take care of their child.

And, according to the report in the February issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family, income did not affect the odds that women would end up with their child care preferences.

Several policy changes could help parents get the type of child care they want, according to Glass.

Longer paid leave, she said, could improve the situation for parents. Changes in work schedules might also make it easier for parents to achieve the child care they prefer, she said.

"Shorter work weeks or compressed work schedules would enable more parents to work separate work shifts after both return to employment," Glass said. This would make it easier for parents to take turns caring for the baby, which is what most mothers prefer, she said.

Such a policy "would have the desirable side effect of more closely bonding fathers to their infants as well," Glass added.

SOURCE: Journal of Marriage and Family 2002;64:2-15.

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