When caregivers prey on babies

Bengaluru, Nov. 5: To countless working mothers who are forced to leave their babies with nannies, the story of Anamika Joshi and her seven-month- old baby who was hired out to beggars by the woman she had hired to care for him, confirms their worst fears.
Already anxious about leaving their babies in the care of strangers, however reliable they may seem, these mothers are now having an even more difficult time spending hours away from their little ones, while at work.
Often with no option but to get back to work after the six months maternity leave most companies are comfortable with, women with newborns are having to curb their natural worry and cope as best they can. Ideally, they would like to rely on a government agency supplying nannies or an efficient crèche for babies not yet a year old, but with neither available, working couples are forced to depend on hired help, who often come to them with no references, to take care of their babies. The breakdown of the joint family often means that parents and aunts are no longer living with them either. Also, often parents of young couples prefer living in their hometowns where they have their friends and other family, and are not keen on moving to a new city leaving them behind, giving the couples no choice but to bring in strangers into their homes to care for their babies.
Rachana Sinha, a techie and a mother of a nine-month-old baby girl took six months maternity break, but resumed work four months ago. She now leaves her child with a nanny she brought from her hometown in Patna. Although she does think the nanny is reliable, she is still not entirely comfortable with the idea of having a stranger care for her baby for such long hours.
“Although she has been looking after my daughter since she was born and my parents have known her for a long time, you can never be sure what the lure of money can do,” says Rachana.
Some mothers are so afraid of leaving their children in the care of others that they prefer to give up their careers till they are big enough to go to school. Shreya Swaroop, an architect and a mother of a five-month-old, has decided to take a four-year break from work because she does not trust crèches or play homes to care for her baby, finding them too cramped for her taste. “There have been reports about children’s hands being burnt due to negligence in play homes and crèches, so I don’t trust them. As my parents or in-laws cannot come and stay with us, I intend to take a break till my daughter starts school,” says Shreya.
But such decisions are often accompanied by fears of what a break might mean to a woman’s career. “I am afraid that when I get back to work I may have to resume at a much lower level than my contemporaries,” admits Shreya.
“If only companies gave women the option to work from home for at least two years after the six months’ maternity leave a lot of these problems could be solved,” says Ananya Roy, a software engineer and a mother of a three-month-old. Women argue there’s no reason why private companies should not give them two years maternity leave, when government-run firms already do. “This will give us time to nurture our babies and allow us get back to work when they start nursery, cutting down our dependence on nannies,” says Shweta Bhargav, a techie and mother of a four-month-old.