'Pregnant woman' tried a social experiment to see who would give her a seat on the Tube

An experiment on the London Tube found that almost half of passengers wouldn't offer up their seat to a pregnant woman.

Blogger Anna Whitehouse decided to wear a fake bump, get on the underground and see how many people gave up their seat for her.

The results aren’t great: four out of ten people – to be exact – offered up their seat.

That’s it.

Whitehouse, who has two children and is also an ambassador for the #ExpectingChange campaign said:

Pregnancy is not a weakness, but it is a vulnerability and I felt this during my first trimester in particular.

Busy, hot, and cramped commuting conditions can be incredibly stressful, both physically and mentally, and being able to sit down can make a difference.

However, from my own experience, I find that people are either too engrossed in their phones to be aware of their surroundings, or won’t offer their seat unless prompted.

I’d encourage anyone who needs a seat on public transport to wear a badge and make eye contact. If that fails, don’t suffer in silence - ask for one!

Her experiment follows a study of 2,000 users of public transport commissioned by skincare company Mama Mio, which found one in four commuters hadn’t given up their seat to a woman they thought was pregnant – in case she wasn’t.

H/T SWNS

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