What would you do if a university student wanted to bring her newborn to class?

Amazing responses. I have chaired meetings and attended choir practice with a newborn, they spend 90% of their time feeding or sleeping. Why would there be any problem if she left as soon as baby cried? As for the comments about other people being distracted, they need to take responsibility for their learning. For heavens sake isn't it better that this young woman complete her course and breast feed her baby, rather than making her choose?

I would have no problem in lectures, the person most likely to be disturbed would be me (the lecturer), sometimes it feels like I am the only one listening anyway . I would be cautious in assessed presentations, simply because I have seen students kicking up a huge fuss about the slightest thing that affects assessment. If you have bent the rules (if, for example, your H&S rules forbid children) then a student would probably have their complaint listened to, however tenuous it was. Hell hath no fury like a student denied a mark.

Indeed Buffy. In fact when I did my first degree there was a guy with Tourettes in my class. He had very loud verbal tics. The very first time he ticced we got a fright but after that no one took any notice. He ticced during every lecture for 3 years. Had no impact whatsoever on any other student.

At first I thought "no way" but then I really thought about it...I know workplaces and places of study need to be quiet at times but children and babies are part of the world...perhaps until we can take them around with us, there will never be equal rights for Mother's and women in general.

I like imagining a board meeting at a bank...with everyone discussing the important issues whilst caring for their babies...men and women together. Perhaps a designated nursery nurse or two milling about.

Sitting in a lecture hall in no way compares to catching criminals or performing surgery. Plenty of people on this thread have brought babies to lectures/given lectures with a baby in the room without problems. In most lecture halls it would be possible for her and the baby to sit metres away from any other students. For the students to be distracted they'd have to insist on sitting right next to her or sit facing away from the lecturer. Why they would do that is beyond me.

I'm a lecturer. I wouldn't mind at all as long as she took the baby out if it was unsettled.
I don't think it would distract my students either.

Sitting in

Don't be ridiculous. So if say a policewoman has no childcare, or a surgeon, they take child to work? As I said, there's a time and a place. That isn't one.

Yes onesleep far better that she stay at home. Who does she think she is? She's a mother, there's no point in her being educated! Selfish. Of course when she fails the module and goes on benefits she'll be selfish then too.

And yes, lot of 'guessing' but I'm tired after a long night shift.

I'm guessing it's deliberate, but I'll humour you. Babies cry. Even if rushed out it would still be very distracting. Even sleeping babies can be quite noisy. I'm guessing you're not going to accept the obvious though.

In what way?

It could end up being very distracting for other students.

Why is it selfish?

Sorry - people advocating things like this as the norm

There's a time and a place for most things. Taking babies into lessons isn't one. It's selfish. And it's people advocating this as the norm that gets feminism a bad name.

I wasn't remotely suggesting she would be "lobotomised"

Simply that if your attention is divided, there is less of it for each responsibility.

If it is not too intrusive, the. I think you need to find out mre about her childcare plans. Bringing a baby to a class occasionally (for example when childcare breaks down) shouldn't be a problem.

But she is there to learn, and she cannot do that effectively if soothing a cranky baby. And even when tiny you cannot rely on babies being calm and sleepy, especially if poorly or just had jabs or are early teethers or atny of the other random things that can throw them completely off kilter for a while.

She needs, really needs, some sort of childcare. For contact hours and for some study time.

Now, even if the reality hadn't fully dawned on her during pg but she surely must have considered childcare at some point. What options does she have? What will she do if there does turn out to be some sort of institutional policy that bars children (and a complaint is made)?

Now, it can be difficult to arrange and expensive. But it's an area you might be able to help her with, or at least signpost to the people with pastoral responsibilities.

And work out what happens to keep her on track should she be unable to attend, or is frequently having to leave early (this might be the single thing that makes the biggest difference to whether she completes the course and gets an adequate result).

I've taken my daughter to uni with me a few times when my childminder has cancelled at the last minute, 4 or 5 times for a full day 10-4 and have never had any trouble with her or the tutors. Other students either ignored her or played with her. The only time when she has caused a distraction was in the middle of a lecture on council housing stock when she loudly announced that she had to poop, and she had to do it now. Tutors are always very happy to see her too.

I once had a student ask if she could bring her 3mo baby to a tutorial as she had no child care that afternoon (she came back to uni and her husband stayed at home with the kids, but he couldn't look after them that day)- I said it was fine and planned to have a few minutes at the start so we could all coo over the baby before getting started on the tutorial, in the end she got childcare sorted out so no baby in class, I was disappointed

We wouldn't have been able to let her bring the baby to all the classes though- lectures and tutorials wouldn't have been a problem as far as I'm concerned but it's a medical school so not in most clinical skills/ward sessions. I did take DS to work a couple of times when my husband was ill and I didn't have childcare- asked my boss if he'd rather I took the afternoon off or came in with the baby and he said he didn't mind so I took DS (8mo at the time) in the sling and showed him to the patients. It was an old age psych ward and he cheered up most of the patients better than the tablets I prescribed! Couldn't have done that in other jobs though, can't carry a baby around in A+E...