This study was designed to explore the preferences and actual experiences of women with different work/family arrangements in managing their children's healthcare.

In-depth interviews were conducted with mothers at home full-time (8) and mothers in paid work over 30 hours/week (7). All women had at least one child under five.

A thematic analysis revealed that all women irrespective of their working arrangements held similar preferences for managing their children's health. For example all wanted to choose primary healthcare services for their children on the basis of the quality of the service and in particular the relationship with the practitioner. Only 6 women (2 in paid work and 4 at home full-time) were satisfied that they could manage their children's health in this way. They spoke of "having the flexibility to put their children first wherever possible". In contrast, the remaining nine women experienced practical constraints that prevented them from achieving their preferences. Five of these women in paid work described managing their children's health as "flying by the seat of my pants". They had to use health services on the basis of what was available outside their working hours and in some cases were not able access a service at all. Four women at home full-time spoke in terms of "it costs too much to get sick", and having to use health services on the basis of low-cost rather than quality. They also spoke of sometimes not being able to use a service when they felt they should because of the cost involved.

In summary, women in this study with different working arrangements did not appear to have dissimilar preferences for managing their children's healthcare however, the majority of women irrespective of working arrangements experienced constraints on their ability to act on these preferences. More flexible workplace arrangements and a primary healthcare system that is affordable and accessible outside parents working hours would assist these families in managing the health of their children.