According to one of the UK's leading authority, Dr. Penelope Leach, babies left to cry at night can suffer from brain damage. On the other hand, Gina Ford, who is one of the foremost baby "schedulers" of today and also sold millions of books on child rearing proclaim that there should be a provision of letting the child “cry it out”.

The level of cortisol is increased if the baby is left out to cry. It is a stress hormone, which according to Leach, may damage the brain of the baby. Britain's The Telegraph newspaper insisted that putting children into nurseries before their second birthday damages their mental health.

The respective camps of Leach and Ford are feeding into an increasingly heated public conversation in the UK about choices for working women. They both are grand dames of baby care in the UK. The upcoming election is being nicknamed as "mumsnet election”.

The parties in the elections that are trying and attract the female vote should carefully think about what they're offering in terms of parental leave provisions and flexi-time working conditions.