Thank you so much for your comment about natural cesareans. I’ve never had a cesarean, so it was great to get feedback from someone who has been there.

It’s interesting to see how much some mothers found the natural cesarean to be a better experience, but I can see why it wouldn’t work for everyone.

Thank you again for taking the time to submit a comment.

I can feel what a hard time you are having with this issue and I’m sorry you are going through this. I feel for you and am angry and sad about it too. Please take good care and feel free to keep posting as your pregnancy gets further along.

When my 20-hour-per-week housekeeper quit two years ago, just as I was reentering the workforce with a fresh law degree after almost two decades of at-home mothering and part-time freelance writing, I decided not to hire and train a new housekeeper. Instead, I now have a bi-weekly cleaning service, and my husband, daughter, and I have divided up the rest of the chores. It seems a lot more manageable to delegate housework to a 16-year-old who will feel the pain of housework not done (e.g. unwashed laundry) and it seems far more reasonable to expect a husband to do his fair share when I am bringing in 40 percent of the family income. Most importantly, though, there is simply a lot less work to do without small kids at home all day generating messes and needing feeding.

So, while I believe that the study’s general conclusion is accurate — that the more women earn, the more likely they are to hire help — an important factor is how much help one actually needs. Unfortunately, the reality is that women typically need the most help during the years they are producing the least income. My husband and I took a leap of faith and hired help during the years we needed it. The gamble paid off for us: I still have my sanity and my marriage, and now my income is being used to fill the retirement coffers that were being neglected during our childrearing years.