Artisan's mother and child (5)
I believe the answer is:
mason
'artisan's' is the definition.
(mason is a kind of artisan)
'mother and child' is the wordplay.
'mother' becomes 'ma' (ma can mean mother).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'child' becomes 'son' (male child).
'ma'+'son'='MASON'
(Other definitions for mason that I've seen before include "Craftsman working in stone" , "One works with stone or brick" , "secretive lodger!" , "figure in lodge" , "Actor James" .)