In I Don't Know How She Does It, Sarah Jessica Parker just about manages to juggle a job in a financial market firm with being the mother of two children. But she does it with a lot of help from a nanny.

Many modern working mothers can't afford personal childcare, though. Instead they rely heavily on a close-knit circle of up to ten close friends and family to juggle their busy lives.

Moms call on their support network, dubbed 'Team Mom', to help out for around ten hours a week as they try to fit everything around their office hours, a survey found.

Their own mothers are the first port of call in emergencies, while friends, neighbours and other children's moms are also likely to be on hand when needed.

The study, carried out by Tesco Baby, found that 67 per cent of mothers believe they would have to give up work if they didn't receive help from Team Mom.

Having a close support network saves the average mon ￡140 a month in childcare costs. That adds up to a saving of ￡1,680 per year.

The trend was revealed in a study carried out among 2,000 moms by Tesco to launch its 'Help a Mom' campaign.

Spokeswoman Lorna Dickinson said: 'Moms work incredibly hard and it's only natural that they rely on other people to help them out.

'Juggling work, meal times, housework and various appointments can be difficult so having a trusted network of reliable people can make a difference.'

The study found moms typically enjoy ten hours of support from their network of friends and family, but one in 20 women has 31 hours of help every week.

Two thirds those who took part in the poll said their own mother was the one person they could not do without, and one third of women said their mother babysits their kids while they are at work.

Tesco's survey also revealed one in ten relies on their mother-in law's child-minding skills while five per cent get granddad to muck in.

(Read by Christine Mallari. Christine Mallari is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)