Pregnant and Need a Seat on the Train? Let Fellow Commuters Know With a New App!

By SheSpeaksTeam Jan 31, 2017

If you’ve ever traveled on public transit while pregnant, you probably know the pains of trying to snag a seat. You may be too early to show a baby bump, but the hormones and fatigue coursing through a pregnant woman at any trimester can be enough to want to fall over at the end of a work day. And if you happen to be proudly sporting that baby bump, many commuters may be too busy looking at their devices to glance up and see a tired expectant mother hovering over them. This is precisely why a London based tech firm known as 10x has developed the “Babee on Board” app allowing pregnant women to let fellow passengers know that they could really use a seat.

Mashable reports about the Babee on Board app that allows both pregnant women and passengers make public transportation a little more comfortable for those in need. If you happen to be a non-pregnant passenger willing to give up your seat you can download an “offer seat” app that will connect you with a pregnant woman who has downloaded a “request seat” app within a 15 foot radius. The app does not require wi-fi, so works perfectly when on an underground subway.

Pregnant London commuter Sally Davies explains why she thinks the app is especially helpful to women who are not yet showing. She says, “It’s much easier to get a seat when you have a big, obvious bump, but it’s actually in the early stages of pregnancy that a seat is needed the most.” Davies adds, “It’s when you are feeling most nauseous and everything aches but you feel self conscious asking for a seat because you don’t have a visible bump. Being able to send a discreet notification to people that are happy to give up their seat would change everything.”

And then there are those moments when commuters are just too oblivious to offer their seat up to someone obviously in need. CEO of 10x, Hew Leith, explains his own embarrassing experience on the London Tube before coming up with the idea for Babee on Board. Leith says, “A year ago an 80-year-old woman, who was sat next to me on a busy Tube, got up and offered her seat to a heavily pregnant woman. I was mortified. I was too engrossed on my smartphone to notice anything.” He adds, “So as soon as I let the older woman have my seat, I began racking my brains for a solution. By the time the Tube train pulled into the platform at Moorgate, I had the idea to use beacon Bluetooth notifications so pregnant people could let commuters know they’d like a seat.”

What do you think of the new app that allows pregnant women to request a seat from commuters?

Would you consider using an app like this?