Celebs opt for early motherhood

For the first time in her life, Kate Moss isn't starting a trend, she's following one. Her pregnancy has given her a VIP pass to the oldest club in the world which swings with a new kind of membership - the twentysomething mother.

Kate Winslet, Victoria Beckham, Kate Beckinsale, Melanie Blatt, Jasmine Guinness are already card-carrying young mothers, now 28-year-old Kate has joined the ranks of careerists who have said: sod the job, let's go procreate.

This is not a trend confined to paparazzi stake-outs. Natasha Walter, author of The New Feminism, believes that this attitude belongs to a new generation of women who are thinking very deeply about their life priorities.

'Women now are very aware of the costs of having a career,' says Walter. 'My feeling is that young women may be turning away from highly careerist views of their lives... partly because they realise they don't want to sacrifice family or quality of life on the altar of work, having watched an older generation do that.'

While the Sex and the City generation worshipped Manolo Blahnik and corporate share schemes, and were brought up to postpone child-bearing until they had an established career and the financial muscle to support a family, women in their twenties are starting families while they still can.

They have spent their formative years in the caring, sharing Nineties where the mantras were all about downsizing and personal growth. Having children was no longer considered a fall-back for burnt-out female executives, it was a worthwhile, rewarding job. Couple this with the recent tide of health reports about declining fertility among women in their thirties and forties, and you have a compelling argument for young motherhood.

We can no longer take it for granted that pregnancy can be slotted into a career plan. New research has shown that the chances of a woman conceiving drop sharply after the age of 30 until, by the age of 40, there is only a two per cent chance of conception. If they do manage to conceive, women in their forties then face a shocking 40 per cent chance of miscarriage. Meanwhile, cases of chlamydia, which can lead to infertility, now affect almost 10 per cent of sexually active women and IVF treatment (the career woman's emergency back-up plan) has been shown to have only a 14 per cent success rate.

But while the frightening reality of these health issues and a demanding career may pose a threat to old-school feminism, Walter believes we are seeing the dawn of a new attitude that celebrates a better work/life balance.

'Women are beginning to move somewhere without any markers or goalposts,' she says. 'The raw, uncharted newness of these lives makes the old certainties of feminism look outdated [but] feminism is still here, right at the centre of these new lives.'

It's a new confidence that is empowering women to make choices. Once baby Moss is born, Kate will be able to return to her modelling career, take up a part-time job or give up the catwalk entirely to become a full-time mother. Surely this is the true definition of feminism.

Mandy Morgan, 26, gave up her career inIT recruitment to become a full-time mother

I know it sounds old-fashioned but I'm proud to have given up full-time work to raise my son William. If other women want to carry on with their careers after having a baby that's fine, but it would make me absolutely miserable. For me, having a career is completely insignificant compared to spending time with your child.

I have always been very maternal. Even when I was 16, I used to look at other people's babies and imagine what it would be like to have one of my own. I think it comes from seeing how wonderful my mum was with me and my brother. She stayed at home with us for years and only went back to work when I was 14. Then I started going off the rails and she immediately left her job because she felt I needed her at home. She gave up everything for me. It was such an amazing thing to do but that's what being a mother is all about.

When I first realised I was pregnant, I was 24 and living in Finchley. Jon (who is now my husband) and I discussed the idea of hiring a nanny so I could keep my job, but neither of us was keen. Financially, we wouldn't be any better off and we weren't happy with the idea of a stranger raising our child. Some of my friends thought I was mad to give up my career but I knew it was the right thing to do.

Of course being at home with a baby is hard sometimes. There were days when I felt very isolated, especially living in London where you hardly know your neighbours. All my friends were at work during the day and I couldn't face going up to people and saying, 'Will you be my friend?' So I watched a lot of daytime TV until I started to meet some other mums. I don't regret a moment I've spent with William, though. I was able to give him a baby massage every day for the first six months and I saw his first step and his first smile. If I'd been working, I'd have missed it all and I couldn't bear that. I'm 26 now and William is 19 months old and I'm already feeling broody again. I'd love to have another baby in the next year or so. I know it'll turn my world upside down but I can't wait. Nothing makes me happier than being a mum.

Annabel Robertson was 26 when she gave up nursing to have her first daughter, Chloe. She now has a second daughter, Gemma

I'd spent over five years training as a nurse and was about to qualify as a health visitor when I became pregnant with Chloe. It was terrible timing because I'd given up a job in banking to become a nurse, but I was thrilled at the idea of having a baby. I was 26 and I'd always wanted to have children while I was young enough to enjoy them. My boyfriend Ian and I talked it through and I decided to give up work for a year then go back once Chloe was old enough to be left with a childminder.

What I hadn't counted on was how much I would enjoy being at home with my daughter. She was so much fun. Instead of having to spend time studying or travelling to work, I could take Chloe to the park, sing her nursery rhymes or read her a story. There was no comparison.

When Chloe was a year old, I did try taking her to a nursery but she hated it and I'd go home and cry. We were both so miserable it was an easy decision to keep her at home with me instead.

Soon after that I became pregnant with Gemma and once I had two children at home there was no way I could go back to work. I couldn't turn my back on them for a minute let alone get dressed and make it to work by nine in the morning.

Chloe is three now and Gemma is one, and I love every minute of being with them. I will go back to work but it won't be until Gemma is old enough to go to nursery. Having my children in my twenties has been the best thing that could have happened. I was old enough to have had a life before them and at 29 I'm still young enough to have a life once they go to nursery. It's the best of both worlds.

Sarah Hodges gave up work as a TV producer when she was 29 to have her daughter, Emily

Two years ago I was a TV producer working in a high-pressure job, flying to Vienna or Paris at the drop of hat. Now my most exciting trip of the week is to the supermarketn - but I don't regret it for a second.

When I was working I loved London life. I worked 10-hour days and a lot of weekends but I had a good job, decent money, a great boyfriend and I always managed to find time to go out with my friends. The idea of having a baby didn't even occur to me. Then, when I was 27, my sister became pregnant and my whole way of thinking changed. After years of dedicating myself to my career, I felt this incredible urge to have a baby and it overshadowed my job, my lifestyle, everything.

Soon afterwards, my boyfriend Charlie and I were married and within seven months, at 28, I was pregnant. I was so excited, I didn't think twice about giving up work. What was the point of having a baby then never being able to see it? Or, even worse, leaving it with a childminder who'd get to know your own child better than you? I thought leaving work and staying at home myself was the perfect solution but I had no idea what I was letting myself in for.

At first it was perfect. Emily was a wonderful baby and I couldn't imagine leaving her to go back to work. But after a few months I realised that this was it; no more top-level meetings or last-minute flights abroad. I started to miss being with adults and using my brain. After ten years of progressing up the career ladder, I felt wary of meeting new people and admitting that I didn't work any more.

Those doubts didn't last long, though. As soon as Emily started to smile and recognise me, it made it all worthwhile. She's eight months old now and we have a closeness I don't think we'd have if I'd have gone back to work. I just have to open my arms for a cuddle and she does the same. I wouldn't have missed that for anything.

Mothers who have it all, except sleep