Holding the baby

ARWA, a researcher at Oxford University, spends her working life seeking out the causes of blood-borne diseases. But now she is in search of child care for her baby—and it is proving even more elusive. Her nine months of maternity leave are about to run out, and despite booking a nursery place soon after becoming pregnant she was too late to beat her chosen nurseries’ two-year waiting lists. For now, her parents are helping out. “Many of my friends don’t have anyone else to rely on,” she says. “There’s simply not enough child care to go around.”