Childfree employee freaks out when coworker on maternity leave brings newborn baby to the office: 'New mothers cannot grasp that not everyone wants to see their child.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Mar 26, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

They were really upset that their coworkers wanted to meet the baby.

How much should you care about your coworkers' personal lives? Some Gen Zers think that their coworkers asking any questions about their lives outside of work is a total invasion of privacy and professionalism, which I don't think is fair. If you spend eight hours a day with your coworkers for most of the days of the week, you would be remiss if you didn't know basic facts about them and their lives. Who knows? Maybe your coworker will turn into your best friend, or your life partner! That used to happen all of the time, back when we didn't meet our friends on TikTok and our partners on Hinge. 

Engaging in small talk and knowing general things about your coworkers is a healthy way to maintain a friendly dynamic in the office. However, you should not have to ask or answer questions about things that make you uncomfortable. You can bring up the fact that you have a boyfriend, but it might be strange if your coworker asked you about your dating life apropos of nothing. In general, talking about family and friends with your coworkers is a pretty neutral water-cooler topic. Who on earth would be offended by hearing about your son's little league game? 

For some childfree people, seeing other people's children makes them fly into a fit of rage that they can't get out of until the child is removed from their sight. The employee in this story is one of those childfree people. 

Advertisement
  • A young businessman with wife and baby daughter standing together in office using laptop
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A new mother brings her baby to her office to meet her coworkers, much to (most of) their delight. 

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • My colleague on maternity leave brought her baby to visit work

    I don't know why new mothers insist on doing this. She arranged for the team to meet for lunch, to catch up and of course, show off her baby.
    via u/accidentaleast
  • A couple of us childfree ones declined the lunch, we told them we'll be working through lunch as we have deadlines (some truth).
    via u/accidentaleast
  • Portrait of a woman having fresh salad at lunch
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A childfree employee eats lunch at their desk instead of going out to eat with their colleague and her baby.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • So listen, I'm an adult. I cannot always control the environment, but I CAN control myself, and I will remove myself or not be part of that environment.
    via u/accidentaleast
  • I declined lunch. Problem solved. HOWEVER, new mothers cannot seem to grasp the concept that not everyone wants to see their child or care about their stories of motherhood.
    via u/accidentaleast
  • Said mother decided that oooh she should come up to the office after lunch then, so EVERYONE CAN SEE HER PRECIOUS BABY.
    via u/accidentaleast
  • I really am against babies and children at the workplace unless that workplace is a literal day care or school.
    via u/accidentaleast
  • Anyway, they came back from lunch which leads right into a meeting. So everyone decided the meeting room it is.
    via u/accidentaleast
  • Conference room with red chairs
    via Petr Magera

    The conference room where the employees decided to do a meet-and-greet with the baby.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • And immediately it's disruptive. Other colleagues ask questions about the baby, about her maternity leave yada yada.
    via u/accidentaleast
  • And you know new mothers LOVE yapping about their greatest achievement i.e. giving birth like ok you push a little sh out of your what the f do you want?
    via u/accidentaleast
  • A medal? A clap? A pat on the back?? Like people, we only have this room for an hour, and we have a lot to go over!!!
    via u/accidentaleast
  • Anyway that took nearly 20 mins until the baby fussed and she had to leave. JFC.
    via u/accidentaleast
  • I tried, I really tried to remove myself from the situation. But sometimes the situation really hunts you down and backs you into a corner you can't escape from.
    via u/accidentaleast
  • In this case at work, in a meeting room you're supposed to be having team meetings
    via u/accidentaleast
  • urlocalmomfriend What confuses me about this is... why are you voluntarily at work when you're not working? You wouldn't catch me de d at work on my day off. Like go to the park, do something fun, especially in america where I feel like maternity leave is like a month, why are you at work when you don't have to be?
    via u/urlocalmomfriend
  • MeanJeanDopamine Oh I hate it when women do this. And I say women specifically because I've never seen a man do this, btw, and I work mostly with men. Has anyone else?
    via u/MeanJeanDopamine
  • Ok_Industry_2395 Why on earth would anyone want to meet a potato that shs and screams? And then have the trauma of listening to the story of said potatos birth. That's a nope from me ☐
    via u/Ok_Industry_2395
  • RealTigerCubGaming Once a new mother stood at my desk for a full five minutes, waiting while I was on a phone call until I put the call "on hold" and said "this call is important" with emphasis on "important" and she huffed off. Thankfully she never spoke to me again.
    via u/RealTigerCubGaming
  • Terrible-Zebra-5299 I'm 100% remote now, but when I worked in an office, I DREADED this situation. I'd always pretend to be busy or ignore what was happening, but inevitably, someone would start screaming my name across the office to "come see the baby" and then launch into comments and questions about when I was going to have one. Yet another reason I love working from home, in silence, with my dogs.
    via u/Terrible-Zebra-5299
  • Mirruko Omg thats a hard nope for me. Dont like kids and I stay away as much as I can. Honestly I have mastered the "smile and wave" technique already. !gif
    via u/Mirruko
  • Kentucky_fried_soup Had a coworker bring her baby to our holiday party. She made all of us speak in whispers cuz the baby was literally 1 month old. Why would you think to bring your child to that event???
    via u/Kentucky_fried_soup
  • MothMeep7 Not only is this a big yuck for a lot of people (like us), but it's also dangerous for the baby. Yes you can't vacuum seal babies to protect them from germs, and some germs are good for their immune development. But a newborn in a setting with a wide variety of people from a wide variety of settings and unknown vaccination and/or exposure status is just stupid. That baby is going to get something. At LEAST wait until it's old enough. to be fully vaccinated, but preferably never.
    via u/MothMeep7
  • PoukieBear This happened almost a decade ago, but I still laugh about it. Lady came in to work with her baby and of course everyone is standing around ooohing and ahhhing in a circle, passing the baby around. I don't recall how I got pulled into that circle, but I was handed the baby even though everyone knew I didn't want to hold it and I was very uncomfortable. What did I do? I slowly placed the baby on the floor in the center of the circle, like some sort of weird offering to the baby gods? (
    via u/PoukieBear
  • Brattiestmfprincess This happened multiple times at my last job...which was an urgent care clinic. Yes ma'am, what this urgent care definitely needs is a lady with a four week old walking around while I'm trying to grab sutures and an eye wash kit cause it's a Monday and everybody and their mother got hurt over the weekend. Medical jobs should absolutely ban this, but of course our shift manager lovessss babies and was fine to have them there. I also don't have any interest in meeting random cow
    via u/Brattiestmfprincess

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

maternity leave baby employee mother childfree coworkers working lunch Office newborn
Scroll Down For The Next Article