Recently a television series pitted different parenting styles against each other. Being a second series, it broadened the range of parenting labels to fill the space. It is easy to believe there is an official list of parenting styles which can be viewed like a menu, with expectant or new parents selecting one and then following directions.

You might be surprised to learn that most people don't identify themselves as a particular type of parent or even consider they follow a method at all.

In the 21st century women have more control over fertility than ever before. They can prevent and postpone pregnancy until a time right for them. However, having gained control over when to start their family, increasingly women are under pressure to complete their family as fertility declines.

The average age of first-time motherhood in Australia is 32. The average number of births per woman is now 1.7. Age 35 is deemed Advance Maternal Age (previously Geriatric Pregnancy!) and fertility declines significantly from this age. Fertility generally starts to reduce when a woman is in her early 30s, and more so after the age of 35. By age 40, the chance of getting pregnant in any monthly cycle is around 5%. Around 5% of children are now conceived with Assistive Reproductive Technology.

All these years later, people still try to convince parents it is wrong to follow their child's lead, bad to let them sleep (safely) in their parents' bed, breastfeed when they want, be carried and held when they need. In the past thirty years, the evidence to support all these things has grown, not diminished!