NYC helping pregnant commuters get a seat on the train with new buttons

— -- The New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is giving moms-to-be free, wearable buttons to encourage train and subway riders to offer up their seats to those expecting.

The MTA announced the campaign Sunday, which also aims to do the same for those with a disability and senior commuters.

"A little courtesy goes a long way," Veronica Vanterpool, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign and MTA board member, said in a May 14 press release. "Providing a seat to a special needs user, without having an awkward conversation, can make a big difference with a small gesture."

Back in March, Yvonne Lin of Washington Heights, New York, made headlines after she awarded a custom trophy to the first man who offered her a seat on the subway when she was expecting. Lin told ABC News that it took her two pregnancies to see such a gesture from a male rider.

The MTA said the awareness buttons, which read, "Baby on Board!" and "Please offer me a seat," are considered to be "the first of [their] kind in the United States."

The campaign is a pilot program that began on Mother’s Day and will run until Labor Day.

This is the first time the MTA is testing the buttons as part of their already-existing “Courtesy Counts” messages, a spokeswoman confirmed to ABC News, citing that the campaign is "self-enforced."

Seniors, people with a disability and expecting riders may request a button by filling out a form at the MTA's website.

Buttons will be to be mailed in approximately three weeks. Third parties can participate in the distribution of the buttons, the MTA said.