Not allowing heavily pregnant woman to use a loo

This is a totally normal policy, the staff member could have gotten into trouble allowing you to use a staff toilet. They're not being unkind, it's above their heads to make the decision essentially.
It would have been better to try and ask in a local cafe or something similar as they will have toilets for customer use and therefore have the flexibility to allow you to use it.
Obviously its very distressing and upsetting for you that this happened and it was too sudden to do anything else in this situation but I would just move on and plan for any future occurrences.
My mother has incontinence issues and wears a large pad so that on the occasions she can't make it to the toilet she has a back up.

It's not insurance. There is no clause in insurance that states claims are excluded if members of the public go into staff areas

What they mean is that they think if something happened, they could be held liable (deemed negligent) or hadn't done a risk assessment to defend a claim. This is the case though if they're insured or not.

Twat

That's horrible of them. I've never been refused use of toilets when pregnant, on the few occasions I've been desperate. In future, your children's school will probably be more accommodating and let you use a staff toilet. Doctor's surgeries are usually fine with it too.

Heavily pregnant woman rushing to staff loo slips and falls on stomach and store not insured…
have you considered those period knickers?

Oi people are harsh, I have small kids 2 and 4 years and have used shop toilets abroad. They allow it because they know a newly potty trained kid can't hold out.
Pregnant is no different.
Gosh I thought a little compassion goes a long way.
England is so rule obsessed it's nauseating.
( And before you come at me, shops abroad also have the insurance policy thing , they're just kind first and foremost

I’m so sorry this happened OP. I understand how embarrassing this can be. As others have said - staff need to follow their employment procedures, which means they can’t let you use the staff toilets.

I get that for you the consequences were unpleasant. The problem though is that many people likely ask to use the staff toilet - and for every person they feel their needs warrant an exception.

Is there a health nurse you can contact to talk about continence planning? There are options beyond go to the toilet every chance you get (and depending on the cause of incontinence this can be a poor management choice). Your management approach has been working for you so far, but as that’s no longer the case a change in approaches is needed.

I do empathise, it's awful if you need the toilet and there is no public toilets around.

The store assistant was correct in their decision though, if anything had happened to you while using their staff toilets, the insurance would not have covered it, which could have resulted in the employee being dismissed.

It's not them being unkind, they have health and safety rules to follow.

If people cared we'd have enough public loos and they'd be a priority

people do care but to have more public toilets we’d all have to pay a lot more council tax…

Maybe supermarkets over a certain size should be obliged by law to have a public, clean, lavatory? They have fleeced enough farmers and made enough profits to be able to afford it. And install a Madame Pipi like in France to keep them in order!

This is where the myth about it being legal for a pregnant woman to pee in a police officer’s helmet comes from.

You are unreasonable not to wear suitable pads or pants if you know you are incontinent… even if it is only a temporary condition you are pregnant.

Yes I imagine this comes down to who is working / the managers view on it as much as anything.

Some people are empathetic and would break a rule to help, others would not.

Sorry you had this experience OP - I agree the lack of public toilets is very limiting.

Agreed but insurance companies are hidden away in their ivory towers and don't care about the actual practical impact of what they demand of their customers. Especially when it has a disproportionate effect on women and on disabled people and who cares about them? If people cared we'd have enough public loos and they'd be a priority.

I feel for you, but I think as other posters have sad, wearing a tena lady is probably your best bet for now. I hate how few public toilets there are, and of course, it tends to affect women far more than men!

I think many people would have done the kind thing,
I disagree here. I think if it had been a small family run independent shop the op mat have been OK but not many people would risk being fired from a national store because they haven't followed rules that's in place partly to protect them.

Same. Better than having to clean up someone’s bodily fluids off the shop floor.

A lot of places can't because of their insurance. I'd have been sacked for letting a customer walk through the back to the toilet.

I've had a gentleman with a can't wait card ask to use it and had to say no. He could kick off all he wanted but I still wasn't going to leave the shop unattended to escort him across a warehouse with a forklift whizzing about. Plus we all had our personal belongings out there, customers personal info, you can't just leave them unattended back there.

It's not always as easy as just let them use the staff ones.

If it makes you feel any better I peed my pants at work twice and that was in early pregnancy (due to vomiting with HG). It's embarrassing but you get over it. The Co op can't just let anyone use their toilets, it'll be against policy and probably their insurance and the staff will end up in deep trouble if they let you.

Yes I'm sure it was and I feel for you. But it's not co-ops fault.

Well I don't think they came up with policy to annoy pregnant women nor because they are bored

They told you it's policy. What more did you want from them?

Most jobs have policies and procedures. You can't expect people to break them just for you.

I also don't know why you mentioned the store being empty apart from two people you have decided are taking their pension.

I worked in many different stores as a student; we were never allowed to let any members of the public use staff toilets.

The onus is on you to make sure you don't wet yourself. Your attitude is entitled.

You take precautions such as emptying your bladder before you go out on a short trip or you wear those Tena pads if you think you may spring a leak.