Reconciling childless women and overwhelmed mothers

On the occasion of Mother's Day, our columnist Marianne Grosjean pleads for a win-win collaboration that would resolve a paradox of contemporary motherhood, between the desire for children and parental exhaustion.

On Sunday May 11, I'll be receiving my first noodle necklace. I'm really looking forward to it, although as a mother of small children, I have to admit that what would really be a gift would be some day-to-day help.

Finding motherhood difficult is nothing new. In fact, it's a current trend in Switzerland. It is reflected in alarming figures for post-partum depression (nearly one mother in five) and parental burn-out (5% of parents), but also in a disturbing abundance of books on maternal regret. The falling fertility rate (1.28 children per woman by 2024) is perhaps not unrelated to these phenomena.

Another trend that marks