Pregnant Olivia Wilde slams strangers for not giving her a seat on subway
But are there two sides to this story?
Here at MFM HQ we got pretty animated chatting about this travelling-on-public-transport-while-pregnant story today.
Each of us in the team has had our experiences of being pregnant on a busy bus or train - and we all had a tale to tell about how we handled it.
One of our mums said she often felt too ill, fragile and exhausted to ask a stranger to give up a seat.
Another said if she needed one she'd just ask - and 9 times out of 10 got the seat she required.
One thing's for sure, though, mum-to-be actress Olivia Wilde was far from happy with the treatment she got while on a busy subway carriage recently - so much so she took to Twitter to make her feelings known to her 1.75 million followers.
"NBD able-bodied riders who won't give your seat to a GIANT preggo. I'll just stand right next to your head and pray I go into labor."
Well - that told them. ✊
In a way, we totally see where Olivia's coming from - she's visibly pregnant at the moment, and you'd think that on a whole carriage-full of people there would be at least one who'd spot her and offer her a seat, right?
On the other hand - in our experience at least - usually if you do ask for a seat when you're pregnant, people are all to quick to give theirs up. To be fair, it's usually the fact they've had their nose in a book, headphones on or are catching a few last zzzzs before work that means they've not noticed the bump or Baby on Board sign - though we know there are exceptions.
We're not sure whether Olivia asked for a seat or not - we're guessing not as she doesn't say she did - but understandably felt people would offer her a seat because of her obvious bump.
And while she might have thought her comment would have got a fair amount of "you go there mama" support on Twitter - it kind of went the other way.
One follower wrote:
"You can't just assume everyone is fine, because not everyone is and may have reasons to stay seated."
Another said: "Perhaps saying; "Excuse me, do you mind if I sit there, I'm pregnant?" rather than tweet would make more sense. Communicate."
Olivia tried to diffuse what became a pretty heated debate among her followers with this tweet:
"Whoa whoa whoa, it's not about scolding, or celebrity, or who can afford an uber. It's simply about us all looking out for each other."
But the row went on:
"REALLY @oliviawilde? I have been pregnant twice.. what's wrong with this generation who thinks they deserve it all!! So sad."
Looks like you've really started something, Olivia ?
What do you think?
What's your experience of going on public transport when pregnant? Are people generally considerate or not?
Should pregnant women make it their responsibility to ask for a seat a bit more often rather than waiting to be given one?
We'd love to hear what you've got to say. Tell us in the comments below or over on Facebook.
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Authors
Tara is mum to 1 daughter, Bodhi Rae, and has worked as Content Editor and Social Media Producer at MadeForMums since 2015
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