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Gen Y moms were also raised differently than their Gen X counterparts, the survey found. Millennials said that the words forgiving, involved and enabling most described their upbringings, while Gen Xers used words like ‘conservative,’ ‘strict’ and ‘traditional’ to explain the way their parents raised them.

First-time mother Alison Matthews always wanted a big family and, having had Charlotte 10 weeks ago at age 29, feels like that’s an achievable goal. The Toronto-based government relations consultant is even maintaining her career on mat leave by taking on a few easy clients.

“Unlike the generation before, we know we can’t ‘have it all’ in the traditional [sense],” said the Toronto woman. “But with technology and the availability and accessibility of options — there are a million ways to raise a baby — we can be an involved mother while still having a career on our own time.”

As a group, Gen Y women are “stepping out” of the work-life balance conversation and prefer flexibility over a perfect equilibrium, Ms. Samson said.

“It often feels like Millennial parents have taken the best of the Boomer and Gen-X generations,” Brandy Mercredi, a Toronto mother of two and blogger at Heart & Habit.

Still, one nagging feeling persists across generations and across borders, said Katherine Wintsch, the Richmond, Va.-based founder and CEO of consulting firm The Mom Complex. That feeling is doubt, specifically self-doubt about their performance as a mother.

This cohort of 18- to 32-year-old moms, addicted to feedback as the generational stereotype goes, will often ask their children how they’re doing, Ms. Wintsch said, adding that many moms will give themselves a ‘B’ in parenting and consider that a good grade.

“I think it’s coming more from places of curiosity, like ‘How am I doing? I’ve never done this before. Is it going OK for you?’ even if your child is five,” she said. “But we do see literally an exhale in these moms after they ask these questions. A huge sigh of relief.”

National Post