With everyone at work, who's left holding the baby?

Demand is booming among parents with newly born children for help in caring for their babies because in today's society mums, dads and grandparents tend to all be in work.

The situation is being exacerbated by a rapidly growing population and the recognition of the need for specially trained experts in childcare.

Zhang Gang, a 25-year-old IT worker, is a typical example of the phenomenon. He says he is being driven crazy looking after his newborn son while his wife recovers from the ordeal of childbirth in bed.

He is desperately seeking a qualified yuesao - a sort of super-midwife - who will look after both mother and child in the first critical month after birth, but has so far met with no success.

"I get so worried when I hear my son cry," he said, adding that he doesn't know what may be wrong with the child or even how to feed or wash him. "It will drive me crazy if I can't find a maid within two days."

Zhang is among thousands of dads searching for yuesao, who tend to be married women who have already raised children. Demand for them has become so high that their pay has doubled and now nurses, university graduates and the unemployed are applying for work in the sector.

Some expectant mothers are having to book a yuesao six months before their child is due.

Liu Wen, 50, works as a yuesao for Shanghai Xiaohua Home Service Agency. She says her services are booked for the rest of the year. When she started the job in 2004, her monthly pay was 2,040 yuan a month. Now it is 4,080 yuan.

"In all my five years of working in the field, I have never seen as much demand as now for maternity maids," she said.

Statistics from the fifth population census of China show that there are 25 million infants born every year in the nation and, of them, about 10 percent of their parents - or 2.5 million families - require a yuesao.

Liu paid 680 yuan for a training course at the agency after she was laid off by a textile plant in Heilongjiang province. She was given lessons in looking after new mums, hygiene, breast care and breast-feeding, care of the umbilicus and skin, bathing and massaging babies, and preparing food for both mother and child.

"It's not an easy job," she said. "Every infant and mother is different in temper and food requirements."

"A qualified yuesao should provide a personalized service with care and patience," she said.

Because of her experience, Liu has been asked to join an agency in Shenzhen to give speeches on her work.

"Companies that provide families with maternity maids are facing increased competition," said Huang Chen from Beijing Shuxin Maternity Maid Company. He said when they started the business in 2000, there were only two similar companies in Beijing. Now there are as many as 2,000 companies supplying yuesao, and many household management companies have expanded to include maternity maid services.

A qualified yuesao should have an identity card, health certificate and vocational qualification certificate at the very least. However, there are organizations that provide professional training. The most authoritative certification is from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, which holds vocational qualification examinations.

Yuesaos are graded into four levels: top, senior, intermediate and junior. Salaries range from 2,720 yuan to 4,760 yuan according to experience.

"The salaries of many ordinary nannies are declining because of the economic situation but those of yuesao are stable or rising to as much as twice what a nanny gets," said Xu Dexin, a manager from a yuesao agency in Fuzhou.

Because the hire of a yuesao is temporary, many families do not mind the expense, he added.

In April, 35 yuesao who had been trained at Tianjin Women's Federation Home Service Company were quickly booked by agencies and clients. Some of them were even reserved by clients from overseas and flown abroad to work immediately on completing their training.

In addition to yuesao, there is also a rising demand for professional nutritionists and lactation counselors for pregnant women and newborn babies. They command a salary of as much as 8,840 yuan a month.

"People who come to our school in order to choose a yuesao usually ask for a lactation counselor as well," said a member of staff at a home service training school in Beijing.

(China Daily 06/01/2009 page7)