The woman, posting as Baby3at40 on the U.K.-based discussion site, explained that she was 34 weeks pregnant and her ex, who had left four weeks earlier, had emailed her to negotiate custody.

She wrote: “With the help of [U.K. charity] Women’s Aid and a good friend who’s a family law solicitor I wrote back saying that he can have 3 hours a day, six days a week, at the home in order to bond with baby and let baby settle in to her routine with me.

“This isn’t enough apparently!”

Mumsnet has added a link on the post to Advicenow.org.uk, which offers guidance on divorce, separation and family law in Britain.

In the U.S. the website Legal Match explains that “when a child is born to an unmarried mother, the mother is automatically granted sole custody in most states and circumstances. Legally speaking, a father who has not established paternity has no legal right to their child without a court order.”

There is no presumption of paternity, “meaning that unwed fathers are not by default assumed to be biologically related to their child. Because of this, unmarried fathers can be prevented from being awarded child custody or even child visitation rights.”

The woman in the Mumsnet case told her ex-fiancé that in order to be “reasonable,” she would continue the routine of three hours a day, six days a week, for the “first 15 weeks of baby’s life and we can revise and see how it’s going then.”

Her post ended with an appeal to Mumsnet readers: “Help. Very anxious at 34 weeks pregnant here.”

User ZealAndArdour was one of hundreds to offer Baby3at40 advice and reassurance, posting: “Exclusively breastfeed your baby, if possible. This, in addition to your very generous offer of contact will stand you in good stead in family court.”

Another user, Rogueone, wrote that she suspected the ex-fiancé had an ulterior motive: “It’s a ploy not to have to pay [child maintenance]. No judge will allow 50/50 from birth. Say no and let him take you to court . You have shown yourself to be reasonable and he will look like an a***.”

User Charley50 was outraged on the woman’s behalf. “He left you! He doesn’t get to demand all these things. You’re going to be the one loving and caring for the baby, he can f*** off,” they wrote. “He can prove himself a caring father by paying for his child and playing nicely and caringly when he sees them. If he can do that, and be respectful of you, you’ll want him to see his child more often as they get bigger.”

Newsweek has reached out to Baby3at40 for comment.