Gives birth: wife lends a hand (6)
I believe the answer is:
whelps
'gives birth' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'wife lends a hand' is the wordplay.
'wife' becomes 'w'.
'lends a hand' becomes 'helps'.
'w'+'helps'='WHELPS'
(Other definitions for whelps that I've seen before include "Gives birth" , "Young wolves or dogs" , "puppies" , "Young of various canines" , "Young dogs or pups" .)