Parking for expectant mothers, is it a courtesy or a necessity?

After all, no one wants to waddle through the car park…

With news that a Sydney shopping centre is considering implementing parking especially for expectant mothers, I’ve found myself well and truly on the fence as to whether or not I agree with the decision.

I am currently pregnant with my third child so it’s safe to say I am more than sympathetic to expectant mothers. But hearing today that Warriewood Shopping Centre on Sydney’s Northern Beaches is considering installing parking especially designated for pregnant women as part of its $84 million transformation has me divided.

Pregnancy is not a disability. Yes it’s exhausting, debilitating and sometimes downright painful, but it’s not a disability. Should you be so unlucky to suffer some of the many ailments which can accompany pregnancy and make mobility an issue, a temporary disabled parking sticker is available at the discretion of your doctor, so you’re covered.

I also feel as though these spaces may become somewhat of a battleground with parents with prams parking. What began as a nice (clever marketing) gesture by shopping centres has now become an expectation, a necessity. People get upset when they see others use these spaces without a pram. There’s confusion about exactly who can use the spaces. What happens if you’re a parent but you no longer use a pram? Does having a four year old walking through the car park count as being eligible?

It needs to be said that parents with parking spaces are not policed in the way that disabled parking spaces are, so it’s clear they are a gesture and not a right. I see parents with prams parking as a sign of helpfulness, and acknowledgment of the struggle that parents can have in the busy car park, but really, anyone can park there without being fined or penalised.

I also wonder what the reality of the carpark will be once the necessary amount of disabled parking, parents with prams parking and now potentially expectant mothers parking is established and where this will leave the rest of the shopping centre patrons.

Kilometres away is where. By the time you've allocated enough spots for those who fit into the above categories, the rest of the community needs to park a significant distance away which could cause upset.

It also needs to be considered how these spaces would be policed. Would a woman have to apply for a permit the second she receives a positive pregnancy test, therefore announcing her pregnancy to the world ahead of the usual 12 week mark, or would this be a scheme targeted only at women in the later stages of pregnancy when it's visibly obvious?

If, in fact, it is only for the later stages of pregnancy, I have an issue with it. True, mobility becomes more of an issue in the latter stages of pregnancy, but what of those mothers like myself who suffer conditions such as hypermesis gradviada. It's well documented that the first trimester of pregnancy is often the most tiring. But if a pregnant woman with no visible baby bump takes the car space, would she experience possible backlash?

I'm still torn. Pregnancy is tough and as you near the end and you're waddling around with swollen everything and a need to get 'just a few more things' before the impending due date, walking becomes an issue. I agree that as a community we should support those in need and make things easier for those who are struggling so in that vein it would seem sensible that expectant mothers be afforded the luxury of a closer parking spaces.

I know that as my pregnancy progresses and every day tasks get harder, I would seek out shopping centres which made my errands just that bit easier and as a member of the community I think it's a nice acknowledgement that pregnancy can be difficult and uncomfortable, I just wonder how the rest of the community would react.

What are your thoughts?

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