Woman lost baby after being barged into on London Underground

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Have just this minute seen this on BBC London News.

Not sure how many weeks pregnant this poor lady was, her name is Janice Norman. She was hurt by people pushing and shoving on the London Underground. After this, she stopped feeling any foetal movement. Baby was delivered by emergency c section but tragically was dead.

Honestly, what on earth is going on in our society today? .

Puff (formerly 2gb)

Sorry, mean to add, doctors definitely attributed baby's death to the incident.

It's horrendous. When I worked in London my best friend was pregnant and was struggling to get to work on the tube. NOBODY would help her get onto the packed train - i.e let her go ahead of them or anything and she ended up sat on the platform crying (you know how it is when pg!). Even then, noone came to see what was wrong.

One of the reasons I bloody hate the place - it's SOOO unfriendly in that respect.

But I thought the standard line was that if you fell or bumped yourself or something while pg the baby was adequately protected - what on earth kind of pushing and shoving was this?

That's true Jan - it must have been pretty brutal.

I can't remember where I heard or saw this but I thought it was on a mainline train to Carshalton and not the tube?

maybe the stress of being barged

here's the news story - it was a train

That's just awful.

sorry folks, realise I should have posted this on the "in the news" thread.

Was and still am, so shocked by this.

I got caught up in a station full of people travelling to a music festival in June/July time when I was heavily pregnant with ds. Very scary with everyone just bumping into me and couldn't get to the train. In the end I pleaded with the conductor to let me travel in his little room at the end of the train - it was absolutely terrifying at the time and that was just in Brum - can't imagine how the poor woman feels

This is awful, i have not seen the news today so I have not heard the story. I have to say it has brought a tear to my eye, I hope it will make commuters realise that fellow passengers should be their first concern not saving 4 seconds.

I hope those people who didn't offer her a seat see this and feel guilty as hell.

i used to work on a train (yep i was a trolley dolly) and our usual practice was if we seen a preganat woman or a woman with a young child we would hold the seat nearest the door purposely for them i thought all companys did this

That's so sad.

This is terrible, but I can absolutely believe it. After my experiences in London transport being pregnant and then with a small baby, I have become aggressive, and if I see a pregnant woman, mother with small baby, older person, or person with a stick without a seat, I start asking the people with seats if they would like to stand up. Often I get a lot of criticism, but now I am going to do this all the time. The people who need the seats the most are always the last ones to get on the train, because of all the shoving.

London Underground ought to put enlarged photocopies of the article up on trains and platforms to remind people of the consequences of their actions.

I notice her MP, Tom Brake, is working with her to start an awareness campaign on considerate treatment for pregnant commuters.
Maybe someone should e-mail him this thread so that he and Ms Norman know how we all feel about this.
Having commuted a similar distance into London on a different service through three pregnancies, I can just imagine scenarios in which Janice got the fatal jostle that led to baby Eliza's death. Someone swinging a framed briefcase down off a luggage rack in a crowded carriage; someone keeping their heavy backback on because there is no floor space or room to get to a luggage rack, and clouting someone behind them; a bag or brolly trailing behind a departing commuter and catching a seated passenger in the midriff. I see stuff like this happen most mornings and have had it happen to me more than once. London-bound trains often lurch frighteningly over points too. The tracks into Waterloo and London Bridge are in a shocking state.
It's more to do with the overcrowding of the trains than the intrinsic unfriendliness of Londoners, I think (although they can be awful). The hot, crowded environment encourages people to act in a hurry-hurry, out-of-my-way, me-first type way.
I think a campaign to designate seats near the door as priority for parents with children, elderly or disabled users should be mounted. The provision in this respect on SE Trains is disgusting. I think Ms Norman would have been on an SW Trains service.

Terribly sad . There but for the grace of God.... I remember travelling on my last day at work, 7.5 mths pg with ds, having to stand the entire 40 minute journey because noone would give up their seat and it was like sardines.

tbh I sometimes used to nip into first class compartments on the return journey but not all trains, especially the newer sliding door ones, like on SW trains, have enclosed compartments so then it was a bun fight for any position.

its hell out there in commuter land - something i was blissfully unaware of until a coupel of years ago - i still to this day cannot get over how mean, pushy and downright rude somepeople are. with grown men screaming for people to bloody well move and perfectly able people letting mothers with children stand all the way - whats wrong with the world - would your daybe so fcking terrible if you were to stand for a journey and let someone in more need than you have a seat.

I wouldn't hesitate to ask for a seat if heavily pregnant, and have done so - hey, if the Evening Std can do it, so can I.... However doesn't help when the train for Wimbledon suddenly turns into the train for Richmond, disgorges its contents at Earls Court and then the next Wimbledon train turns up considerably later completely packed - and I'm trying to get home to pick up DS!

I'm so pleased I don't live in London; it seems a bit more civilised out here in the provinces!

That poor, poor woman - I hope police are investigating this. That man should be done for manslaughter

The trains in and out of Manchester are horrendous to. Dh commutes every day and I couldn't put up with what he does. It's standing room only and you're often not lucky enough to have enough floor space to keep your balance when the train brakes sharply. There's been several pile ups on his journey home when people have got piling into one another. They want people to use public transport but they don't provide enough seats. Just one more carriage would make all the difference at peak times. They have the rolling stock, they just don't use it.