That's what I've found too Schaz. The government jobs are very flexible and fantastic for women in their childbearing years. I certainly would not have had my job still had I remained in the field I was in prior to joining the public service.

I've just set up my return to work arrangements last week for example and my manager said I could choose exactly what days and how many hours. They simply could not be more accommodating.

Re paid maternity leave ... I had 12 weeks paid leave which I chose to take spread out over 24 weeks at half pay and that was brilliant. It has allowed me to have slightly more than a year off work (the rest is leave without pay) and I'm really happy about that. It has been great.