Baby on board badge tfl

[ellacharlotte]

What is everyone's experiences with wearing the tfl baby on board badge on the tube?

I'm 23 weeks pregnant and have just started wearing one and found it hardly makes a difference- people notice you and then pretend to not have seen you.

I am lucky and have had a relatively easy pregnancy and so do not always require a seat nor think I'm entitled to one every time, however peoples lack of manners has truly shocked me since I've started wearing the badge as I previously would have always given up my seat for anyone wearing a badge.

If I saw someone pregnant I would give up my seat
If I saw someone that looked like they were struggling (for any reason) I would give up my seat
If I saw a fit healthy woman with a baby on board badge I would probably just roll my eyes and not give up my seat

Oh last time I found it fantastic, and massively missed it after giving birth haha. Wore it outside London too. Mostly to claim good seats when empty though, not to have anyone get up per se.

Mine was mixed. But if you want a seat just ask and point to your badge

Agree with pp. Badges like this just make me rolly eyes at the neediness, look at me vibe. Sorry OP. Just go with the flow. Most people will give up their seat when you are noticeably pregnant.

Don't do this. They are bad enough as a replacement for using your words without literally just pointing at it.

I never got one because I thought they were insufferable smug. But I was nearly always offered a seat and on the rare occasions I wasn't I just asked for one. Same as I did a couple of times in earlier days when I was just hungover and wanted to sit down.

Someone moved very swiftly out of the disabled seat when I was diving for it. That might have been less about the badge and because I looked like someone who was about to faint though.

How does your last statement square with your first?

Until about 30 weeks pregnant the time I most needed a seat was in my first trimester because I felt sick and exhausted all the time. I was wearing quite shapeless stuff because I was so bloated, but with the badge I got offered seats regularly.
I've found that people are much more likely to offer a seat on the morning commute than the evening. Young women generally more likely to offer than men of any age. I ask if I need it.

I was recently in London, but didnt have a badge.
Fortunately, I rarely needed to ask for a seat, as almost always I had one, but when I did, people just moved when asked.
Even though I was 6 months pregnant, I am barely showing... So people wouldnt just clock my pregnancy by looking at me! I keep having to "prove" it whenever I ask for the priority queue!

I never got one because I thought they were insufferable smug. they're helpful signposts for people who want to be helpful but are also afraid of offending someone in case they are fat or bloated rather than pregnant.

That isn't the case though. I remember having to get the tube to an early morning MW appointment when I was 35 weeks and very obviously pregnant. Lots of people looked up clocked me and buried themselves in their newspapers. That was 21 years ago- its worse now as no one ever looks up from their phone. I wish they had the badges when I was expecting - at least then if you need to ask for a seat you've got the badge to support you.

I got one sometime in my second trimester. I found people were generally good with offering; the challenge can sometimes be people actually noticing at all if they’re engrossed in their phone or whatever rather than deliberately ignoring, though I’m sure that’s the case for some people.

And I didn’t and don’t give a toss if people think it’s needy or smug. You’ve no idea what kind of pregnancy a woman is having. I had a small bump for a long time and am fit and healthy so didn’t appear to struggle or even appear massively pregnant. So I may not have needed one according to some PP. But due to a previous injury I had a lot of joint pain at times and really benefitted from being able to sit. Get one OP if you’d otherwise struggle to get a seat on your commute.

If you are visibly pregnant with no badge just getting on with life, I would give you a seat
If I see some twee attention seeking badge, you have just destroyed my willingness to give you a seat

I wish people would remember that the badges aren't about smugness, neediness or anything else. They were introduced when a pregnant woman was barged into by a fellow passenger on the tube. She fell and lost her baby.

The tube can get incredibly busy. People are always squashing together. There are sharp jolts. It's safer if a pregnant woman is seated.

I despair at all the unsupportive comments. On Mumsnet of all places. Not everything needs to be so damn negative.

I commuted every day during my pregnancy, wore the badge and never once had to ask for a seat, it was always offered readily. Maybe it's depends on the route you're taking!

In the winter months, with thick jackets and scarves, bumps can be hard to see. Nothing wrong with wearing a badge so those around you can see that you might be in need of a seat.

Your attitude towards the badges is very telling of your character.

Yes I completely agree- it's very unsupportive some of these responses and I can't imagine any pregnant women wears the badge with the intention of "smugness"

It's not even about a seat half the time- it's just for even walking through stations so people just are a little bit more careful to not barge into you when walking!

And it's not about being entitled expecting a seat in a smug way, I am just more shocked at how little manners people have any more!

Does pregnancy generally render women mute?

I never had any trouble saying out loud, "could I sit down please, I'm pregnant" or, at other times, "could I sit down please, I don't feel very well".

The badges make women look like they're too scared to speak. Which doesn't bode well for advocating for themselves during other parts of their antenatal or postnatal care.

Some people pretend to be asleep or look at the phones. 🙄

I've never been pregnant but last summer I broke my arm and struggled to manoeuvre moving buses as a result and felt unsafe. I got a Please Offer me a Seat badge from TFL and it helped. Once or twice I did ask as well.

Some of these comments are horrible.

When I was pregnant in London, people often didn't stand up for me, even when I was wearing the badge. Usually they did, but often they didn't. Women stood more than men. We live in an individualistic culture, I guess. I've seen the same done to old/disabled people.

What a bizarre and mean-minded attitude.

Been into London a few times recently, I am noticeably pregnant, was never offered a seat.

It's hard because if you're travelling in rush hour chances are the tubes are so busy you can't get down to the seating area anyway so no one can see you.

@kitsuneghost I was much more ill and faint in my first and second trimesters than my third (ie before I was visibly showing). I wore the badge and also asked for a seat, and always got offered one (sometimes by multiple people at once).

I hope you aren't a mother of daughters or in any other caring capacity for women. You really sound cruel.

Well, without the badge you've got two options:

1. Loudly announce to the whole carriage you're pregnant and need a seat. Tad awkward and not very practical when it's rammed.
2. Pick someone specific out and ask them. Someone who may have their own reasons for needing a seat. Or someone who shares some of the unsupportive views on this thread. And risk them saying no and making you feel like shit.

The badge lets people know and gives them the opportunity to offer if they so wish, without being put on the spot.

So simple really.

You seemed to have got yourself into a muddle