On My Mind: Governor Mom

May 20 -- It's not that she is a public official. It's not that she gave birth to twin girls last week. Nor that she has a stay-at-home husband who takes care of their other 3-year-old daughter. These all describe 36-year-old Jane Swift, the Acting Governor of Massachusetts. But what will make her name go down in history books is the fact that she became the first governor ever to give birth while in office. With that accomplishment she has become a trailblazer, a role model for all working women.

While I was taking pride in what I saw as another step forward for women, (especially female politicians) I happened to pick up a copy of the National Review. Its cover story was entitled, "The Case Against Working Mothers." In it author Richard Lowry cites the recent study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development that reported children in day care tend to be more aggressive and unpleasant.

Lowry states: "Mothers who choose to work full-time jobs and routinely leave their young children with others for much of the day are not normal. They are a historical aberration: They represent a minority preference among women and they run exactly counter to the standard of motherhood that should be encouraged."

Then why, pray tell, Mr. Lowry, are more than 60 percent of women with children under age three working? They are no aberration. They are the norm in 2001.

Memories of Working Motherhood

I don't think he would approve either of Gov. Swift or my having a career, with two children in the care of others.

When I was pregnant with my daughter 30 years ago and working as a reporter in Chicago, I was an oddity. People would gawk at me as I went about my work. I remained on the job until I was in my eighth month, and even scored a national scoop on a major national story. I felt fine, but in those days, nobody could believe I was still working. Why wasn't I at home resting up for my labor and delivery? Some women who were pregnant would hide their bulging middles, venturing out only in the evenings so they wouldn't be seen.