Two pink lines, check. ✅
Prenatal care, check. ✅
All of my clothes stopped fitting, check. ✅
Thrive in college as a student… 😬
Some pregnancy-related tasks are easier to accomplish than others. If you’re a student mom figuring out your next steps, we’re glad you’re here. Here are some tips for getting the accommodations you’re entitled to as a student, and what to do if someone is denying your accommodations. Let’s get started.
⭐ Quick tip: Earlier this month, we published a blog all about Title IX protections for students. Check it out!
Steps to Getting Needed Accommodations:
Be familiar with your rights before you or your friends are pregnant. (What you know may help yourself or someone else one day!
Optional: Tell professors early on that you are pregnant so they can be mindful of that and plan ahead, etc. (People tend to be more helpful and kind if not caught off guard the day before something is due.)
- When an accommodation need arises, don’t be shy! Ask for the accommodation. Many faculty/staff members are not entirely familiar with the rights and accommodations available to pregnant students, so it’s a good idea to share this federal link or handout with any faculty/staff you are working with. This way, everyone has a shared understanding of the guidance provided by the federal government on how to uphold Title IX.
- Use your accommodation when necessary, and carry on with your education!
What to do if accommodations are wrongfully denied or you are harassed:
If you believe your rights under Title IX have been violated, you have several options:
- Keep your head down, work hard, and carry on anyway without accommodations. Sure, you could do this, but this doesn’t provide further protection for you or justice and protection for anyone after you. It just perpetuates injustice and hardships.
- Address the offender and share information about Title IX. This not only protects your rights, but also the rights of future students. Often, accommodations are denied by faculty/staff not out of meanness but out of ignorance. People don’t know what protections and rights pregnant students have under federal law. Kindly sharing information can change that and your experiences.
- File a formal complaint with the Title IX Office at your school (every federally-funded school has one).
- File a formal complaint with the Federal Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights.
- File a lawsuit. This would entail finding a lawyer to take your case, providing ample proof, and putting in a lot of time. Because students tend to lack time and funds, not many students go this route. All existing cases are discussed in Chapter 1 of Title IX and the Protection of Pregnant and Parenting College Students.
You’ve got this.
The Pregnancy Network offers free medical services, educational classes, resources, and more to pregnant women and families. If you’re in need of material assistance, connections to resources like Medicaid and WIC, or referrals to doctors and pediatricians that accept Medicaid, we’d be happy to help. Make an appointment today at our Greensboro or Winston-Salem locations.
Thank you to Catherine Riley, professor and author of Creating Supportive Spaces for Pregnant and Parenting College Students: Contemporary Understandings of Title IX, for her contributions to this blog post.
Chloe Belk
Chloe Belk is a Communications Coordinator at The Pregnancy Network.