And, of course, it’s not always a simple weighing up of whether your job, relationship and experiences are where you’d like them, there’s also the very real possibility that pregnancy won’t come when you want it. On average, 84% of women will fall pregnant within the first year of trying and one in seven couples have fertility struggles, adding yet another dimension to the “when is the right time” question.

The best starting place is to work out which barriers are surmountable, practically and emotionally, in your current situation. First up for many women comes career. “Maternity packages differ but usually you need to be in your job for 18-24 months to reap the full benefits,” says Kirstie Burn from recruitment firm PSD Group. Burn believes the best time to have a baby is seven to eight years into your career. “You should be at a certain level of seniority so that when you come back you won’t have to start all over again. You’ll have a certain amount of experience and credibility, so you know how to juggle and delegate, and your firm trusts you to work flexibly.”

Then there is your relationship to consider. It sounds obvious, but you need to make sure your partner definitely wants a baby too – one US study showed 100% of couples who’d had a baby when the husband wasn’t initially keen had divorced within six years. “If you can’t talk about it and decide when a good time is, how on earth are you going to raise a child?” says psychology consultant Dr Sandra Wheatley. “It’s about coming to a joint decision that’ll make you both happy.” It helps if you’re married too – ONS statistics showed that 80% of married couples in 1991 were still together a decade on, compared to 60% of cohabiting couples.

When Is The Best Time to Have a Baby?