To think pregnant ladies should be able to use parent and child spaces?

[NameChangeEverydayLOL]

As I get bigger and bigger everyday, I am finding it harder to get out of normal parking spaces without knocking the door and potentially scratching someone's car.

So, would you be miffed if you saw a pregnant lady (with no outside the womb children) using a parent and child space ?

(I understand you could park somewhere where a space is free next to you, but you don't know if someone is going to park there while you're gone...)

I had no choice at the end of my pregnancy my PGP/SPD was so bad I couldn't navigate getting in or out of a car without the door fully open. The number of times I was scared to use the p&c spaces and had to ask total strangers to park or move my car out of spaces. In the end my midwife gave me a talking to when I fell over trying to attempt to get into a car in a normal spot and told me to use the p&c spaces.

Now I have a little one I totally understand why they are necessary for car seats etc. However for those saying pregnant women shouldn't be allowed to use them obviously haven't suffered PGP to that extreme!

Other people with chronic pains/disabilities have the ability to park in disabled spaces

This absolutely is not the case.

If only I could have bent down to move the seat once seated but the steering wheel was in my face. I'd already gradually inched and tipped it back as far as I could possibly reach the pedals and still see the road. Being a size 8 with a 43 inch waist was interesting... I didn't look pregnant from behind and kept my waist and people were astonished when I turned round to reveal what looked like a strap on bump utterly out of proportion with the rest of my body. No GD, just a relatively long lean baby with a lot of water.

There's a gap in the market for van sized spaces up the back of a car park. That would be much more efficient than occupying multiple spaces.

Costco have a small separation between each bay which also works well for the majority of vehicles.

I don't care who uses them but sometimes it is harder with a big child than a small one.

My comment was aimed at AthenaisdeRochechouart I'm on the OP's side here!

Other people with chronic pains/disabilities have the ability to park in disabled spaces

Yes. If they have a blue badge. What happens if you have any of the above and yet are not eligible for a blue badge?

Or if someone has an injury that doesn’t qualify for a blue badge as it’s temporary but they are struggling to get in and out of cars...perhaps far more then a pregnant woman or a parent with a car seat?

Just get rid of these spaces, just have a selection of wider ones at the back of the car park

no you need a blue badge to park in disabled spaces enforceable.

Totally different to parent and child spaces. Ditto on buses

iHopeYouStepOnALegoPeice

Go for it. It’s made mum and dads lives so much easier.

Guys really? This is a lighthearted post so nit-picking over my use of the word 'literally' is pathetic. It's just a discussion as I was interested in seeing how the majority voted on this issue. If you don't feel like sharing your opinion then fine, but surely you have better things to do with your life than being pedantic

And regarding blue badge, it's always been in my experience (family and friends) that anything that qualifies them to have difficulty moving about does generally receive these passes, ie a family friend of ours had chronic knee problems and had a badge to park in disabled - I'm sorry if that's not been the case for yourselves

Sorry - I find the second definition of 'literally' as 'not literally' too hilarious to resist quoting it at any opportunity.

Note: obesity may be self inflicted, but then so is pregnancy.

Since were nitpicking.

I park in them when my back is playing up so I think it's fine to park in them when pregnant.

And regarding blue badge, it's always been in my experience (family and friends) that anything that qualifies them to have difficulty moving about does generally receive these passes, ie a family friend of ours had chronic knee problems and had a badge to park in disabled - I'm sorry if that's not been the case for yourselves

Your friends have met a criteria that allows them to have a blue badge. Thousands of people are hovering just below that benchmark and can’t get one. For instance I was very ill for 4 years and couldn’t walk well, I was denied a blue badge.

@IAmInsignificunt I'm sorry to hear that

You're pregnant, not ill, if you cannot comfortably fit behind the wheel then you're unfit to drive.

Personally, I think all car parking spaces should be bigger anyway. So many people drive massive cars nowadays that they struggle to get in the lines anyway.

I’ve told DH that if I get much bigger then I’m sticking the car seat in the back and using the mother and child spaces. I wouldn’t even mind if they were further back, I just need to be able to get out of my car (I’m the driver in the family so not like I can be dropped at the door or anything!)

Yes - my friend had to ask someone to get her car out the space for her when she was 8 months pregnant as someone had parked so close to her she couldn’t get back in.

pregnant ladies literally make the world go round

This is literally the opposite of the truth. The single biggest thing any of us could do to combat global warming is to not have children.

I'm not suggesting anybody who wants children refrains on that basis - but the net effect of bringing more people into the world is to do more harm than good, environmentally speaking.

(Sorry for po-facedness, I just couldn't let it lie!)

why should people be nicer to pregnant ladies and not to obese ones, just because they're pregnant? If the issue is size and getting out of a car, surely we want anyone to be able to comfortably get out of their car without scratching the one next to it, and that would apply to anyone. We aren't trying to be nicer to pregnant women just because they're pregnant, surely?! What does it matter what the reason that they are that size is? Unless you think there is something superior about being large because of pregnancy, and large because of obesity?

NameChange you're way off the mark about the ease to obtain a blue badge.

In my opinion (now don't kill me) but none of us would be here today if it weren't for our mothers being pregnant, and as I said it is usually only the last couple months of pregnancy where things get tough. Where I come from, it's common decency to put pregnant women first. Speaking for myself, I have always been very healthy, strong and nimble, so I would never expect special treatment - however - I am now not so nimble and strong and I don't feel that healthy, I find it harder to do simple tasks that before pregnancy wouldn't even be a second thought. Pregnant women are for those few months in their life, putting their body through the toll of growing new life and I've been brought up to respect that and treat them well because of it.
Sorry if you disagree. The same way I would treat the elderly and disabled with the same respect - because they can't get around and do things the same way normal healthy adults can!

What a load of arse holes on this thread. Do you really begrudge a heavily pregnant woman a bit of extra room to get out of her car easily? Seriously give your head a wobble.

When 9 months pregnant a car parked so close next to me that when I got back to my car I really struggled to get in. I had to stand on the bottom of the bit the door closed onto and put one leg in whilst pushing my bump up against the door. It was really uncomfortable. I guess the difference is that if I had that situation now, my belly is squishy so I would be able to squeeze myself without it hurting so much!

I wouldn't begrudge you the space if it meant I had to go and park somewhere else with my under 1 year old. I often have to do that for all the random people with no children to squeeze in and out of car seats who seem to use them anyway!

And regarding blue badge, it's always been in my experience (family and friends) that anything that qualifies them to have difficulty moving about does generally receive these passes, ie a family friend of ours had chronic knee problems and had a badge to park in disabled - I'm sorry if that's not been the case for yourselves
It’s luck of the draw as to where you live. Some councils give them out quite easily others you have to jump through ridiculous hoops for.