Northern woman’s childminders (7)
I believe the answer is:
nannies
'childminders' is the definition.
(a nanny looks after children)
'northern woman's' is the wordplay.
'northern' becomes 'n' (abbreviation e.g. N. Ireland).
'woman's' becomes 'Annies' (woman's name).
'n'+'annies'='NANNIES'
(Other definitions for nannies that I've seen before include "Child minders" , "Female goats" , "They look after children" , "Childminders" , "nursemaids" .)