This room of the forum only works because there's an unwritten rule that in order to foster honest sharing of experiences and choices, we try not to make harsh judgements on each other's parenting. Lots of people expressed reservations about maternity nurses in response to the OP, but they were all done politely. I came on to give my experience because I thought it would be helpful to give a different perspective and (now that the original question has been answered), to talk about other reasons why someone might use a maternity nurse, and candj has now expanded on that: help with breastfeeding, support with older children etc. zeban, I find your comments using strong pejorative language like "ridiculous" and "sad" that someone might pay for help unbecoming and they contribute nothing but bad feeling. Anyway, back on topic - I can completely see why a mother might have a mat nurse with 2nd or subsequent kids (esp with husband away! Eeek!!!) but we chose not to repeat the experience with Twosling, and just shoved him in our bed. Once his tongue-tie was fixed, breastfeeding was easy, and I felt more confident second time around, and quite frankly didn't really give a damn that the house was a mess. However, one of my best friends had a mat nurse with both her sons, and as a formula-feeder she found the help and rest and establishment of a routine invaluable. I'm going with the horses for courses line - with the proviso that some horses are lucky to be able to afford additional help..