Give up your seat to a pregnant woman. It’s the right thing to do

WHEN did we stop offering pregnant women a seat on public transport, asks Vanessa Croll. Have we really become this selfish?

Pregnant women are doing it tougher than those without a human growing inside them. Give them a hand. (Pic: iStock)

PREGNANT women deserve a seat on public transport.

There should be no question about it.

If you are occupying a seat and are capable of standing when a clearly pregnant woman enters your carriage or bus, it really should be a no-brainer. Offer her your seat.

But for so many, it’s obviously not a no-brainer, because on a regular basis you see it happening. What changed in the world to make it acceptable to be this way? People really seem to not care anymore.

And before you say “it’s feminism’s fault”, just back up a bit.

There’s nothing in feminism that says you shouldn’t help out a fellow human being when they clearly need it, and you won’t find a feminist in the world who objects to a pregnant woman being offered a seat.

But it rarely happens these days.

Rebecca Gordon is six-months pregnant and takes two trains in Melbourne to get to work every day.

She’s had to adjust her work hours to avoid peak hour to ensure she gets a seat. She can’t face the embarrassment of having to ask for a seat four times a day, and she can’t rely on her fellow travellers to do the right thing so it’s easier to start work earlier.

“People look at you then really quickly look back down at their phones so they don’t have to stand up,” she said. “Even when they’re in the seats marked for pregnant or disabled people.”

Maybe she needs to take the attitude of the pregnant woman who barrelled into a packed Melbourne train carriage last week saying “I’m pregnant, I’ll need a seat” at the top of her voice.

There’s a lot going on inside the body of a pregnant woman, offering her a moment to take the load off can go a long way. (Pic: News Corp)

It might have sounded slightly entitled and a bit bossy, but desperate times need desperate measures, and an aching back and swollen ankles were clearly desperate times for this assertive woman.

Do we have so little regard for those creating our future generations that we willingly allow them to suffer? Sure, that sounds dramatic but if you’ve ever grown a human inside you, you’ll understand the strains it puts on your body.

Basically, your body doesn’t belong to you anymore. It’s following some deep rooted biological formula that you have pretty much no say in or control over. There’s pain, discomfort, fatigue, emotional mayhem and a complete feeling of detachment from the life you once knew.

This is all added to the normal stresses we each battle in everyday life. Because for many pregnant women, they don’t just get to quit their jobs and focus on being another human’s life support. No, they have to keep on getting on.

Yes, having the ability to create life is a bloody miracle and amazing and those points are not lost. Most pregnant women just put up with the unpleasantries that go along with it because hell, what else can you do? But that doesn’t mean that making a little effort to make their lives a bit more comfortable doesn’t go a long way.

So, next time you see a pregnant woman on public transport, please think of this rant and offer her your damn seat.