Parenting

The Women’s Center partners with many departments across the institution to create a family-friendly environment and support parents studying and working at Vanderbilt.  For a list specific to the needs of students with children, please visit the Students with Children Initiative page.

Resources on-campus:

• Students with Children Initiative at the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center
• Vanderbilt parental leave policies for faculty, staff, and students
• List of lactation spaces available at Vanderbilt
• Vanderbilt Child and Family Center, and their recommended list of alternate childcare facilities in the area
• Dates for this semester’s Parents’ Night Out by Alpha Phi Omega can be found on the Women’s Center calendar.
• Vanderbilt Sitter Service, for benefits-eligible Vanderbilt employees
• Parents in a Pinch Back-Up Childcare, for benefits-eligible Vanderbilt employees
• Babies and You, a prenatal educational program for benefits-eligible Vanderbilt employees through Health Plus

Local resources include:

• Nashville Parent Magazine –Nashville Parent, the award-winning Middle Tennessee parenting resource, has been in Nashville for more than a decade. Check out this website for fun activities in the Nashville community.
• Swell Pregnancy Guide – Check out this guide to Nashville Businesses who provide services and products for new parents.
• Department of Human Services regulates childcare services throughout Metro Nashville and maintains an interactive search engine for finding childcare options in the area.
• Family & Children’s Service provides crisis intervention counseling, mental health trauma intervention for children and families who are victims or witnesses of violence and attachment counseling to help children, including those in foster care develop and maintain healthy loving relationships with permanent families.
• Regional Intervention Program is an internationally recognized parenting program that assists parents in addressing behavioral issues in children up to six years old. RIP provides parenting support and behavioral management classes.

Other resources:

• Moms Rising is a national advocacy organization primarily focused on raising support for family-friendly policies, such as healthcare, paid sick leave, pay equity, and flexible work.
• The Mothers Movement Online: since its founding in April 2003 as an open source for information about social, cultural, economic, and political issues related to the well-being of mothers. MMO presents research and news articles on care work, paid work, family life and public policy.
• Mothers & More is a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of mothers through support, education and advocacy.