Mum accidentally flashes co-workers while breastfeeding on a conference call

What came next? A deafening silence, then an awkward comment from her boss...

Let's set the scene... 

You're a top exec at your company and a new mum, and you join an important Zoom call with your boss and other executives.

You're also on maternity leave but that's beside the point (but seriously, take a break, woman!).

While on this call, you're also breastfeeding your little one - because, multi-tasking - and all of a sudden, you accidentally turn your camera on and expose your boobs, in all their breastfeeding glory. 

What comes next? A deafening silence, then an awkward comment from your boss about your camera being on.

That's exactly what happened to one new mum, who took to a forum to detail the "most embarrassing moment" of her "life and career."

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Image: IStock

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A sleep-deprived multi-tasking mistake

Taking to the r/Parenting forum, she wrote, "I'm posting this in the hopes that others can share similar experiences to make me feel better.

"This morning I had one of the most embarrassing moments of my life and definitely my career. I recently had a baby and was breastfeeding him this morning. At the same time, I was also on a work call with my boss and other executives (all men). I'll occasionally work from home while on maternity leave and join conference calls."

She continued, "The meeting this morning was at 8 am and I was completely sleep-deprived. My little one is in the middle of a sleep regression, so needless to say I didn't get much sleep the night before."

Then here comes the kicker. "It was my turn to talk so I went to un-mute my microphone, but accidentally hit the video button instead (which I was completely unaware of!).

"I said my part for 30 seconds or so while looking at my son... and then I sensed an awkward silence. After what felt like an eternity my boss says, 'I’m not sure you meant to have your video on'.

"I look up at the screen and everyone on the video call is just staring at the screen gobsmacked not knowing how to react."

The mum said she was, "beyond mortified" by the moment, before detailing exactly what was on display. "I was in my robe with it wide open. Both my boobs were fully hanging out, nipple and all because my son kept coming off my boob and switching sides."

She then said she tried to fake laugh it off and keep her cool but she then spent the rest of the day bawling her eyes out.

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People shared suggestions for the new mum

The comments were a mix of sympathy and advice, with one suggesting, "I advocate for the backup manual ‘camera off’ button: a sticky note over the camera."

Someone else agreed, saying, "I apply gun safety to webcams. Always assume it’s on/loaded. And never point it at something you don’t want to shoot."

"You can also buy camera covers for really cheap too. You just slide it on and off to cover the camera," a third added.

"I would email my boss and apologise while also standing up for yourself and saying babies need to eat. If I had been on that call as your coworker, I may have been momentarily shocked and then I would have completely understood. Even men are capable of understanding these things," suggested a different user. 

"Someone flashed a 500 person all hands meeting"

Then lots of people shared their horror stories, in hopes of making the mum feel a bit better.

"Our large company had an 'all hands' Zoom meeting with about 500 people or so. One of the senior execs thought her camera was off and got completely undressed and changed into a new outfit while talking to everyone. There was a huge issue with it, as HR wasn't sure if it qualified as harassment.

"So yeah while your story is bad, it can be so sooo much worse!" one person shared.

Another wrote, "I've seen people do much worse. You were literally just feeding a new human you created! It's not the end of the world, and I doubt anyone thought of it as sexual since you were clearly feeding your baby."

"We had a conference at work. One of the guys who worked remotely was in his room with an en-suite. His mic was hooked up to a speaker in the conference and his camera to a TV. He went to go to the toilet and we could just hear the echo of him peeing for a minute. It was so loud," revealed another person. 

Originally published as Mum accidentally flashes co-workers while breastfeeding on a conference call