A new book which claims to be a survival guide for working mums gives realistic advice on how to successfully juggle domestic and professional life. Author and mother Lindsay Cook reveals the winning formula to GABRIELLE FAGAN

AUTHOR Lindsay Cook would like to wrap up working women's legendary guilt and drop it from a great height. You know the guilt inspired by those surveys implying that children will end up under achieving if mothers set one foot outside the kitchen.

Cook has heard about it first hand from the countless women up and down the country that she talked to for her new book, Working Mum: The Survival Guide.

She says she appreciates how tough it is for mothers wanting to forge a career outside the home but uncompromisingly, this mother-of-two says: "I don't do guilt, I hope that doesn't make me sound hard. But I believe you can bring up great, secure kids, if you work, even if occasionally you make a few mistakes along the way.

"Women beat themselves up far too much worrying whether they should be at home when they are at work and vice versa. They shouldn't try to be superwomen, cutting a few corners occasionally on cooking, cleaning or whatever never hurt anyone.''

"Mothers are now playing a vital role in the workplace," she says. "They will soon be the majority of the workforce. I wanted to tap into that network of parents, pool their knowledge and find out all about their individual ways of coping, caring and avoiding the hidden traps."

In a straightforward, no-nonsense way her book reveals how women can avoid the perils of prejudiced 'macho' bosses, rivalry and jealousy from childless colleagues, choose suitable child care, from granny to nanny, and understand their legal rights.

Her ''battle plans'' for winning at home and work are drawn from her experience, as a parent and Managing Editor of the Daily Express. But also, and perhaps more relevantly, from dozens of ordinary mums and dads from shop workers to professionals, both full-time and part-time. It takes the book a world away from those 'How to have it all' bibles written by high flyers with gold-plated childcare.

Increasingly women are anxious to find successful strategies as, often through necessity, they enter the workplace. Nearly seven out of ten first-time mothers return to work within a year and 53 per cent of mothers with children under five now work. But recent Cabinet Office research showed a mother in a mid-skilled job - such as a clerical work - can miss out on £140,000 of potential earnings by having two children.

Cook, 49, didn't qualify for maternity leave and returned to work within a couple of weeks of the births of sons, Rory, now 12, and Gray, aged nine. But the conflict of a seriously sick baby and a demanding career proved her most testing moment.

She says: ''Gray was born six weeks prematurely with underdeveloped lungs. He spent a month in an incubator and the doctors warned us to expect a crisis. My husband and I took turns staying with him and I managed to carry on working, often from the hospital. In fact, working saved my sanity as it gave me other things to concentrate on. It was a break from the terrible worry.''

Now husband Tony works from home, and is "a great dad'' to the boys whom she credits with boosting her career.

She says: ''Having them increased my motivation by making me feel 'properly grown-up' and it gave me the confidence to push myself forward for promotion. The boys are independent, outgoing and benefit from my working.

''All those skills I learned in dealing with children, trying to persuade them to do things they were determined not to do, have come in useful at work. I've lost count of the times I've had to remind colleagues not to reward bad behaviour.

''I wouldn't dream of ever saying it is easy to work and have a family," says Cook, "but there are 4.6 million working mothers out there and the vast majority of them are getting along just fine. It's just a question of making it work for you.''

COOK'S BATTLE PLAN FOR A SUCCESSFUL RETURN TO WORK

l Once you know you're pregnant investigate your childcare options and plan how your job and your partner's can fit your new life.

l Swot up on maternity rights before you see your boss.

l Always tell your boss about the pregnancy before letting your colleagues know. He or she won't appreciate being the last to know.

l Diplomacy and fair dealing are usually far more effective in dealing with an unsympathetic boss than insisting on your rights. l Approach an employer with solutions, rather than problems and be confident not defensive.

l Suggest a clear plan of the work pattern you'd like when you return. Underestimating what you can do but being able to stick to it, is better than overestimating and failing. Babies can disrupt the best laid plans.

l Put your plan in writing and get your boss to also confirm in writing. Without that you could return to find someone else doing your job, while you've been given a new task.

l Try to get work up to date before you leave and stay in touch while you're away. Your employer is likely to be more flexible about your eventual working week if he feels you're up to speed on new developments or changes.

l Also keep in touch with colleagues. You won't then be forgotten and will hear of any threat to your job.

l Make sure you're confident of your childcare well before your return date. Practise leaving your baby for short periods so you don't arrive tearful in the office after the first parting.

l Use new technology so you can work from home or keep in touch with the office if you have to go to school or health appointments during working hours.

l Keep pregnancy or baby talk to a minimum. It can annoy those without children who may be jealous or resent what they see as a privileged working pattern.

l If after your return the balance or hours are wrong, admit it and suggest a change.

Working mum: The Survival Guide by Lindsay Cook (Simon And Schuster, £6.99