Have a garden, reach a management position and clear all debt - the modern mum's pre-baby checklist

Modern women have a mental check-list of things they want to accomplish before starting a family - which includes having a garden and owning a nice car, a study has found. Researchers found that ambitious women now want to have travelled the world, cleared any debt and be earning in excess of £30,000 before they consider becoming a parent.

Reaching management level at work and moving back to be near her parents were also things to have ‘ticked-off’ before becoming a mother.

More traditional ‘musts’ women insisted on included being married, owning a house and being able to drive, the study carried out on behalf of OvuSense – a new real time fertility monitor – found.

The study of 1,000 women - who have given birth in the last year or plan to have a baby in the next two years - found half said there were certain accomplishments they wanted under their belt before attempting to conceive.

Four in ten said they needed to get to the stage where they felt mature enough to be a mother, and 17% said they had to have put their ‘party days’ behind them.

One in five said they wanted to go on a ‘once in a lifetime’ holiday before the pitter patter of tiny feet arrived, and perhaps sensibly a quarter wanted to be living in a property with a garden.

Rob Milnes, CEO of the creators of OvuSense, said:

"Nowadays women tend to juggle a lot of responsibilities in their lives and making the decision to have a baby is huge, especially the first time around.

"It’s understandable that many busy women have certain things they want to accomplish before starting a family.

"It can only be a good thing that women are wanting to do things like clear their debt and see the world.

"Whilst the research showed that women want to get certain professional milestones under their belt, it’s important not to leave it too late to start trying to conceive, everyone is different and it may take longer than you envisage."

The poll found a high flying one in twenty women wanted to be earning a salary of over £40,000 a year and the same number said they wanted to be ‘at the top of their game’ professionally.

A similar number said they would love to have their own business before getting pregnant for the first time.

The poll also found millions of modern women are meticulously planning the timing of their new arrival to ensure it didn’t clash with other engagements; in fact a quarter of couples stop trying to conceive at certain points of the year as they don’t want a newborn’s arrival to get in the way of work commitments and even friends’ weddings.

Other factors which now play huge parts in the timing of a pregnancy are school entry dates and term times, Christmas and even the weather.

The poll found 62% said they would always prefer to have a baby in the summer months and shockingly one in twenty revealed they would be disappointed if their baby didn’t arrive in a certain season or even month.

With September being named as the most popular month that couples want their bundle of joy to arrive.

Rob Milnes added:

"The research found trying to conceive so that the baby arrives early in the new school term seemed surprisingly very common with mothers.

"You can try to plan as much as possible but sometimes solely relying on meticulous planning doesn’t work.

"Therefore, the real key to staying in control of when you try to have a baby is to track when you ovulate each month, which can be done effectively through monitoring your cycle. Over 31% of women we surveyed did not know when they were most fertile and other women gave completely different answers so it’s an issue that confuses many women."

Kate Davies, Fertility Practitioner RN BSc (HONS) FP Cert, said:

"The modern woman is certainly very used to planning all aspects of her life and trying to conceive no exception. It is important to a woman to endeavor to plan her pregnancies to fit in with her career aspirations and general lifestyle.

"Women want to be more informed with regards to their bodies and have a desire to feel in control of their fertility. They want to know when they ovulate each month and when in their cycle they are the most fertile. This knowledge is incredibly empowering for women and ultimately helps them to successfully navigate along their fertility journey."

TOP THINGS WOMEN WANT TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE STARTING A FAMILY

1. To be married
2. To own my own house
3. To have matured enough to be a mother
4. To have travelled
5. To have cleared any debt
6. To have completed further education / necessary qualifications
7. To have a garden
8. Go on a once in a lifetime holiday
9. To have passed my driving test
10. To own a nice car
11. To have £10,000 in savings
12. To have said goodbye to my party days
13. To lose weight ahead of getting pregnant
14. To be earning £30,000
15. To have reached management level
16. A long awaited promotion
17. To reach the top of my game at work
18. To own my own business
19. To cut down on my alcohol intake
20. To be earning £40,000
21. To have paid off my student loan
22. To be earning £50,000+
23. To move back to be near my parents
24. To complete a sporting accomplishment
25. To have earned enough to afford a nanny

TOP THINGS MOTHERS WANT BABIES BIRTH TO COINCIDE WITH

1. The spring
2. The summer
3. The start of the academic year (September)
4. The six week school holidays
5. Christmas