Prof. Troy Littleton and graduate student Karen Cunningham speak with 7 News about how Littleton placed a crib in his lab for Cunningham’s young daughter to help create a safe place for her if she needs to accompany her mother to work. Cunningham says Littleton “has a long history of supporting parents and just generally has a history of supporting parents in the lab with whatever their needs are.”
Reporting for Good Morning America, Kate Kindelan spotlights how Prof. Troy Littleton has placed a travel crib in one of his lab’s offices so his graduate student, Karen Cunningham, can bring her 10-month-old child to work with her when needed. “These sort of local ways that people in positions of power can protect parents against the systemic things, like what Troy's been doing in creating a really supportive and inclusive lab, I think that does make a really big difference and it's great to have an example of that,” says Cunningham.
A new study co-authored by Prof. Jonathan Gruber found that while Quebec’s low-cost child-care system may help children academically, students who participate in the program may “have worse outcomes when it comes to health, life satisfaction and crime rates,” reports Jordan Press for The Huffington Post.
More than 150 people attended the “Make The Breast Pump Not Suck Hackathon” at the MIT Media Lab this weekend, reports Lauren Walker for Newsweek: “The event’s goal was to give the breast pump a much needed makeover—making it more efficient, more affordable and more comfortable for all moms.”
“More than 150 people gathered at the MIT Media Lab this weekend with a single goal: ‘Make the breast pump not suck!’” writes Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. “Over two days, teams brainstormed and then built prototype designs for the machine that moms almost universally love to loathe.”
Deborah Kotz writes for The Boston Globe about the breast pump hackathon held at the MIT Media Lab over the weekend: “First-prize, $3000 and a trip to Silicon Valley to pitch investors, went to the team that devised the Mighty Mom Utility Belt, a hands-free wearable pump that can be worn under clothes.”
Katie Levingston writes for Boston.com about the “Mighty Mom” system which took the first place prize in the Breast Pump Hackathon held at the MIT Media Lab. “[T]he ‘Mighty Mom’ is a discrete, wearable and smart utility belt for breast pumping,” writes Levingston.
Susan Rohwer writes for The Los Angeles Times about the “Bringing Innovation to Maternal Health: Make the Breast Pump Not Suck!” hackathon at the MIT Media Lab: “[A] civic-minded group of designers, engineers and parents will gather at MIT to try to rethink and redesign the breast pump.”
Tom Ashbrook of NPR speaks with Professor Emeritus Lotte Bailyn about how the U.S. lags behind other countries in maternity leave policies. Bailyn argues that the U.S. lacks the kind of support required to help people raise children.