Calls for pregnant women to wear badges on public transport

A young mother has urged Australia to introduce badges for pregnant women travelling on public transport for their own safety.

Carolyn Tate said it is time Australian mums-to-be followed London and New York’s lead to alert those on trains and buses of their pregnancy without the need for awkward glares and assumptions.

After suffering in silence, too uncomfortable to ask someone to give up their seat, Ms Tate said she eventually decided not to put her unborn child’s life at risk anymore.

“As someone who has fainted on a bus while pregnant – not once, but twice – I gave up suffering early on and became comfortable loudly asking people to give me their seats. But surely there has to be an easier way,” she wrote on parenting blog, Essential Baby.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is now offering “Baby On Board” buttons to pregnant women in the hope that passengers will give up their seat once seeing them.

“We hope this campaign will help their fellow riders to be more willing to offer them a seat without having to ask a personal question first.”

Parenting blogger Megan Zander said that being pregnant was hard enough without having to worry about fainting or falling on the train home.

"Not every pregnant woman, senior, or person with a disability or invisible illness needs or even wants a seat,” she said.

“For those who do, these buttons are a great way to help with a common problem without having to discuss your medical history with strangers.”

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