Liz, I am glad someone brought up the points you did. While it's wonderful to see so much support for women who want to make their families a part of their work, it is also important to remember that most women are not that adventurous and the bar should not be set at that height for everyone. While reading this thread about all the women who carried infants all over the mountains and through jungles, I felt like I was inadequate because I simply could not have done that. The stress of a completely changed life, the depression, the hormonal changes, the CONSTANT nursing day and night, the physiological stress of recovering from childbirth and the ongoing lactation, made it impossible to even think about work until at least 3 months after my baby was born (and even then I was not quite ready). I think it is unrealistic to expect women to just jump up form the hospital bed, baby in sling and run off to work. It appears that Simone wants to go to the field and no-one is coercing her. That is great and it is her decision. I am not saying that she should not do it (she knows best what she can and cannot do). But everybody who is saying that women are just fine running off to work as soon as baby is born should be a little cautious as to what message is being sent out to young mothers. Also, some of the men who said that it is just as difficult for men in academia: no, it is not. Please remember, men do not go through the physiological and emotional stress to the same degree as a woman who just had a baby. And also, the men are bottle feeding the baby, which is far different from breastfeeding. I think the bottom line is that our society is just not supportive enough of women in academia. A woman who has had a baby does not get adequate time off to re-adjust into life before being expected to get back to work. Having a baby and taking care of it is hard work, and academia is also hard work. Many men (my husband included) are absolutely devoted to their babies and invest almost as much time and energy and sleepless nights in caring for the baby; I do not deny it and I admire and respect all the men that do that. But the bottom line is that it is far far harder on a woman. We need more realistic attitudes towards women in academia, wile at the same time making it possible for women to simultaneously compete in academia and be mothers. Women need to have substantial maternity leave and flexible work loads for the first several months, without being judged for not "taking it all in her stride" but instead prioritizing her baby and herself so soon after the enormous achievement of producing a new person into the world.
-Kay Department of Biology, University of Kentucky
