I love London so it is quite hard for me to write this piece. Now I love the tube, but it does bring out the worse in people. Everyone just wants to get home and it can be over-crowded and hot. So, excuses for my city over let me get to my point: traveling in London while pregnant is awful. Really awful. The entire time I was pregnant I was only offered a seat a handful of times and only once by a man. The man made his teenage daughter get up for me. I will be eternally grateful to him. Anyone who has ever been pregnant knows that being offered a seat while carrying another human being inside you is a pretty big deal. I had an awful pregnancy with acute morning sickness and low blood pressure throughout.
The truth is, even when wearing the great badge that TFL send free to pregnant women, most people will just bury their head in their book and turn their iPod up louder. The Baby on Board badge will spark good people to do the right thing, but sometimes it seems like there are too few of them.
Not getting a seat wasn’t the worst of it. While on the way to have lunch with one of my role models, the editor of one of the biggest magazines in the UK, I was pushed TWICE down an escalator by a man who wanted to shave a few minutes of his journey. I was walking down the left hand side whilst seven months pregnant. I guess pregnant women don’t walk fast enough for him and he pushed me twice hard, and also tried to shove me out of the way. I made my feelings clear to him, but I was shaking from head to toe. The upside is that a wonderful woman stopped to stroke my back and make sure I was okay while glaring in his direction. I am very thankful to that woman. It really helped me cope. It proves that a little bit of kindness goes a long way.
I still find it depressing that only one man offered me a seat when I was pregnant. He was even a tourist FFS. Add on the fact that, at most, five people offered me a seat in my over 41 week pregnancy then I am going to have to give us an F Londoners. It is not good enough so let’s try for an A+. We are the greatest city on earth and we can do better than this.
Please let us know about your experience of being pregnant in London.
Thank you for commenting. I am glad to hear that. Maybe I was just unlucky. Strange how it is usually a woman. Maybe they just relate more. I did have people who were standing get upset and be appalled.
Traveling in London when you have a baby is a nightmare. I will be writing about it. It is just awful. People don’t seem to care.
Sounds hideous for you!! I also live in London and it seems I had quite a different experience to this for some reason.
I was often, actually usually, offered a seat – especially during the latter months. Admittedly, it was almost always by a woman (I even remember once a woman on crutches giving me her seat because none of the men on the carriage did), but it happened so often that when I started getting back on the tube post maternity leave (with marginally smaller tummy) I’d almost forgotten what it was like to NOT get a seat!
On the rare occasions I wasn’t offered a seat (usually during rush hour) I sometimes sat on the floor, always prompting people to jump up and I also asked a couple of times – and of course I shouldn’t have had to resort to either of these options! But, I must also mention the kind man who didn’t have a seat, but still offered me one anyway and then when I said “well yes I’d love one but…” he tapped a man hiding behind a newspaper and said “this pregnant lady needs a seat”. Another occasion an elderly lady said to the man sitting next to her “excuse me, could you offer this lady your seat? She’s huge!”. Well meaning, if a little on the offensive side! ;)
I have had more problems since having my baby. I have taken my son on the tube since he was 3 days old, and the entire time people seem more than happy to let me (or my husband) stand awkwardly juggling him, my bag, a pram and usually a million other things while attempting to steady myself as a little person pokes me in the eye or force-feeds me crackers, without offering a seat and THAT really drives me crazy!!