Directions restricting a girl’s nursemaids (7)
I believe the answer is:
nannies
'nursemaids' is the definition.
('nanny' can be a synonym of 'nursemaid')
'directions restricting a girl's' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'directions' could be 'nn' (the abbreviation for north written twice) and 'nn' is found within the answer.
'a' is within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for nannies that I've seen before include "Female goats" , "female servants?" , "nursemaids" , "They look after children" , "Children's nurses" .)