Teesside University opens new facility for parents

Teesside University has opened a new parenting room which provides a safe space and facilities for staff and students to attend to their children’s needs on campus.

The Parenting Room is located in the Centuria Building, (H0.07), and is designed to offer additional support to parents as they return to work or study.

Facilities in the room include a comfortable seating area, a fridge and a changing table to provide support for parents around feeding and changing, as well as expressing and storing breastmilk.

It is open Monday to Friday, between 7.30am and 9.30pm, and students and staff who want to use the Parenting Room can collect a code from the Centuria building’s reception area.

Rachel Cutler, Senior Lecturer in Midwifery in the University’s School of Health & Life Sciences, said: “We are delighted to open this new Parenting Room at Teesside University. We are committed to providing the best support to our students and staff, and we hope that this fantastic addition to our facilities will help to do that.

“It can be difficult for parents to return to work or study after having a child, and our new Parenting Room on campus will help to make that transition a little bit easier.”

Susan Holbourn, Lecturer in Midwifery, added: “We are so pleased that the wider School of Health & Life Sciences team have supported this project and recognised it’s value from the very beginning.”

Sasha Bloundele, 35, from Middlesbrough, who is a BSc (Hons) Midwifery student, worked with the School of Health & Life Sciences to help bring the Parenting Room to fruition.

She brought her daughter, Birdie, who is almost 2, to campus to see the space for the first time.

Sasha said: “It’s nice and light, nobody can see in, it’s spacious, it’s clean, it’s got power points, it’s got changing facilities, and it’s on the ground floor so it’s easy to bring a push chair in.

“I absolutely love it, and I’m so glad that there’s a room dedicated for feeding or just having a bit of time with your little ones. It’s lovely and welcoming.”

Birdie was also delighted to see the space and spent the visit smiling and laughing with her mum.

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