Parenting: An Overview
Caring for a child is a full-time job in the best of circumstances, and doing it well while attending classes, working, and/or being there for the rest of your family and friends can become overwhelming. Especially with a first child, it’s hard for a parent to decide when a runny nose warrants a visit to the doctor or to set aside time for personal rejuvenation. International students and affiliates face the additional challenge of raising their children in an unfamiliar culture, away from a home base of support. MIT Medical understands these issues and offers parents informational resources, pediatric health care services, and support.
How MIT Medical Can Help
We provide a wide range of services to meet your parenting needs, including:
Pediatrics Service: MIT Medical’s Pediatrics Service consists of health care providers and other pediatric staff who stress prevention and education. They provide a full range of services for children and adolescents with MIT health insurance, including:
- Routine well-baby care
- Breast-feeding support and counseling
- Routine well-child check-ups
- Treatment of sickness and injuries
- Vaccines and immunizations
- Phone advice from a pediatric triage nurse at 617-253-1505, M–F, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., and 1 to 4:30 p.m.
Contact the Pediatrics Service at 617-253-1505. A pediatrician is on call 24 hours a day. In an emergency, call 617-253-1311.
Support for international students: Resources are available to guide international students through the process of obtaining health care at MIT Medical. In addition, some of our care providers speak other languages, and all have access to the Language Line telephone translation service. With advance notice, we can usually arrange for foreign language or sign language interpreters at our Cambridge and Lexington centers.
New Moms Group: This six-week group is the perfect "first group" for moms and their new babies (two to six weeks old at the first meeting).
spouses&partners@mit: This group is a support network for wives, husbands, and partners of MIT students, staff, and faculty. Members can connect with other parents and their children, participate in and organize activities, and get referrals to other parenting resources at MIT and in the Boston area. Membership is free.
MIT FamilyNet: This online community for MIT families allows members to network and share information on a variety of topics, including childcare, daycare, school carpooling, toddler and baby playgroups, and concerns about childbirth and breastfeeding.
MIT Center for Work, Family, and Personal Life: The Center offers members of the MIT community a broad range of services to assist with issues at the intersection of work, study, and personal life, including child care, school arrangements, breastfeeding support, parenting, and work/family issues.
Taking Care of Yourself
To be at your best as a parent, you need to be in good condition yourself. MIT Medical provides several resources to help you unwind and decrease stress, including online information and MP3 files on yoga and meditation instruction. Here’s a partial listing of resources:
Additional Resources
For more information about parenting, check out these web sites:
MedlinePlus: A service of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, this site offers parenting tips on child safety, discipline, monitoring friends and activities, and parents' survival guides.
Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition: Find out about breastfeeding resources in your area.
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