Becoming a Parent in OT School
As occupational therapy practitioners and students, we recognize that our clients hold multiple roles that shape their identity and occupational performance. We consider those roles when building plans of care and we honor them through client centered interventions––but do we extend that same consideration to ourselves?
When I am asked for my main occupation through financial aid, insurance, or other appointments, I have written “student” more often than anything else. But when I saw those two pink lines on a pregnancy test, I gained a new role. My priorities shifted.
During this time, I did not know anyone who completed a synchronous program while pregnant, and I found limited shared experiences on social media. There was no roadmap for what would come next as both a student and a new parent. I didn't know what protections I had, what accommodations I could ask for, or where to find answers that were relevant to my own university.
The next nine months brought physical, mental, and emotional challenges. I had morning sickness that lasted all day, with two trips to the emergency room for fluids. I had pelvic girdle and round ligament pain that distracted me during lectures. I needed constant restroom breaks. I experienced a level of exhaustion that no amount of sleep could fix. While these were common symptoms of pregnancy, they were harder to manage when my day didn't end after leaving campus, as I still had to study and complete assignments at home. Decision fatigue was heavy as I navigated the healthcare system and my birthing options, on top of weighing whether to push through or defer for a year. How was I going to balance clinical rotations and capstone with an infant? Regardless, I was dedicated to finishing.
The road to the finish line, however, was not easy. Having a baby in graduate school is less common, and I convinced myself that my pregnancy was a burden on everyone around me, my faculty, my staff, and even my peers. In the classroom, I made myself small. I needed to stand during lecture to relieve hip pain but I limited how often I did. I held off on restroom breaks, and once the baby came, I skipped pumping during back to back lectures often lasting 2+ hours each, all because it felt too disruptive.
Soon, I realized that I was not the problem. It was that there was not a clear university policy or accessible resources for students who have become parents.
As I pieced things together, I learned that under Title IX, pregnant and parenting students are protected. You cannot be forced to take leave. Medical absences must be excused with documentation. Reasonable academic accommodations must be provided. You have the right to return to the same academic standing. Lactation accommodations should be provided, and retaliation for asserting your rights is prohibited.
Knowing my rights sooner would not have eliminated the challenges I experienced, but it would have increased my confidence to ask for what I needed. I could have advocated for myself the way I was being trained to advocate for my clients.
Building on my experience, I created the Student-Parent Resource Hub that centralizes information on Title IX protections, healthcare navigation, mental health and wellbeing, and university resources so no student parent has to go through it alone. The hub was designed to be replicable, as most of the information applies to all students, with the exception of a few university-specific resources.
If you are a student parent or planning to become one, start by contacting your school's Title IX office. If your university doesn't have a clear policy for student parents, advocate for one. The squeaky wheel does get the grease, and the students who come after you will benefit.
Whether this is your story, your student's story, or your classmate's story, knowing what student parents navigate and what support exists changes how we show up for each other.
Acaylia Jensen is a 2026 occupational therapy doctoral graduate from Mary Baldwin University's Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences. Her clinical interests center on maternal health and supporting families through life transitions. Outside of school, she enjoys baking, watercolor painting, and a good audiobook.