I don't think reasonable people believe that women who have babies can't remain focused on their careers. However, let's not pretend -- there's a lot of caring

I don't think reasonable people believe that women who have babies can't remain focused on their careers. However, let's not pretend -- there's a lot of caring going on, and somebody, whether it's mom, dad, grandpa, grandma, aunt, uncle, or nanny is doing it. Particularly at a startup where as an employee part of my compensation is options, making me effectively an investor (viz foregone income), I don't care if hypothetically my boss might not be distracted; I want to know if she or he in particular will be focusing less on her baby and more on the company. And no pretending sleepless nights don't impact work performance. As an employee, I'd be very reluctant to work for a young startup where a founder wanted to have a baby before the organization grew quite a bit. edit: it's not just a partner helping; it's being damn near a single parent. One of the founders of my company did just have a second child and let's not kid: his wife, even with the nanny, is practically a single mother.