Featured Image Credit: SWNS
Topics: Parenting
Emma Guinness
A mum-to-be has responded to online critics after she decided to go to Glastonbury music festival while eight and a half months pregnant.
Lois Mallett-Walker, 31, said she purchased tickets with her husband before the Covid-19 pandemic, with no pregnancy plans on the horizon. Watch below:
However, as the festival was cancelled two years in a row, when they finally got the chance to attend her circumstances had dramatically changed.
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But that didn't stop Lois and her husband Tom, also 31, so they decided to go anyway despite expecting their first child very soon.
They had spent a decade trying to get tickets for the legendary festival, so the extra effort required for Lois to attend while pregnant was comparatively small change.
In order to make sure Lois was comfortable, they brought a double air mattress, an electric fan and a paddling pool as well as an extra toilet.
Lois said of her unusual festival experience: "We pretty much moved house so I could be as comfortable as possible.
"Realistically, we definitely wouldn't have planned for me to be here so pregnant.
"But we bought the tickets for 2020 Glastonbury which were rolled over to this year – and we have literally been trying to get tickets for about 10 years!
"It was also our 11th wedding anniversary on Saturday so we didn't to be apart from each other.
"I think people have a pre-conception of Glastonbury but you can do Glastonbury the way you want to!
"I don't think Glastonbury is for the fainted hearted but when you really love music, with preparation and a good sidekick who will help you out, it can be done pregnant!"
Tom set up the couple's camping area at the festival while Lois waited in the car to avoid the queues and everything was ready on her arrival.
She said: "In total, it took him five trips walking to the car, which was around one hour round trip each time.
"He is a trooper, but he was very keen to come so was prepared to do everything he could to make me comfortable as he knew I would struggle with walking and setting up."
However, when Lois posted a video of her pregnancy set-up at Glastonbury on TikTok, she was subject to some criticism from viewers who didn't think it was safe for a pregnant person.
One wrote: "Are you madddd?"
"Just be careful in them crowds as could be very dangerous for you and baby," added a second viewer.
A third questioned: "Why why why would you do that when you're so heavily pregnant?"
Lois responded to her critics in a follow-up video, where she explained that not everyone's Glastonbury experience has to be a wild party.
Lois explained: "You choose your campsite and how you want your experience to go.
"So ravers usually choose certain campsites [and there are family options]."
Lois said prior to the end of the festival that, while she will be tired, she has no regrets about her decision to go.
She added: "When I arrive at a music act, Tom gets out a chair for me with an umbrella and I sit near the back where it’s less crowded.
"It's a story to tell our precious little baby.
"My mum took me on safari to Kenya when she was seven and a half months pregnant with me and I always loved that story – so now we are making our own story."