A major law firm in Britain has appointed a ‘fertility officer’ in response to the concern some women have that becoming a mother can be ‘career-suicide’.

The Times says Burgess Mess has appointed legal expert, Natalie Sutherland, to the part-time post.

She told the newspaper: “The impression that me and my peers were given early in our careers was, ‘If you want to do well, you shouldn’t be having babies until you are established’. But that compounds the problem because usually you only become established when you are well into your thirties when your fertility is starting to decline.”

The move comes against a background of plunging birth rates and couples delaying becoming parents for the first time until they are well into their 30s.