 Expectant mothers should buckle up to keep baby safe
Source: Giardian.UK from BMJ Group Date: 5/20/2009
Pregnant women sometimes worry that wearing a seat belt could injure their unborn baby in the event of an accident. But a new study has found that the risk of serious harm to the pregnancy is far higher when seat belts aren't used.
What do we know already?
There's
no doubt that seat belts save lives. More than 1,400 people were killed
in car crashes in the UK during 2007, and 1 in 3 of these people were
not wearing seat belts. Experts estimate that nearly 300 people would
not have died if they had worn a seat belt.
Pregnant
women, like other adults, are required by law to wear seat belts, if
they are fitted. Even so, some pregnant women fear that wearing a seat
belt will harm their baby when it tightens in the event of a crash.
To
find out if these concerns are warranted, researchers looked at what
happened to a large group of pregnant women involved in car accidents.
What does the new study say?
Using
a US database that tracks injuries from accidents, the researchers
identified 2,422 pregnant women who'd been in a traffic accident, and
looked at whether their baby had died or needed to be delivered early.
They
found that 8.4 percent of women who didn't use any safety restraints
(neither a seat belt nor airbag) lost their baby or had an early
delivery, compared with 5.8 percent of women who used a seat belt.
The
risk was even lower when women used both a seat belt and an airbag,
with only 3.8 percent losing their baby or having an early delivery.
When
researchers did their final calculations, they found that women who
used a seat belt had a 33 percent lower chance of these harms than
women who didn't use safety restraints, and those who used both a seat
belt and airbag had a 57 percent lower risk.
How reliable are the findings?
The
study's findings were presented at a recent medical conference, and
have not yet been published. This means we can't check all the figures,
or look at the study to see how well it was carried out. However, the
overall figures are likely to be pretty reliable.
Where does the study come from?
The
study was carried out by researchers at Wake Forest University in the
US, and its findings were presented at the annual meeting of the
Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.
What does this mean for me?
If
you are pregnant, wearing a seat belt can reduce the risk of serious
harm to your baby (and yourself) should you be in an accident. The risk
is even lower if your car has airbags.
What should I do now?
Make
sure you buckle up throughout your pregnancy. You may find that wearing
a seat belt becomes uncomfortable as your bump grows, but proper
positioning of the belt can improve both your comfort and safety.
* Position your lap strap so that it lies below your bump and runs low
across your hip bones. This will minimise how much pressure is put on
your belly should you be in an accident.
* Always use the shoulder strap. Place it between your breasts and down
the side of your bump. Never put it below your arm or behind your back.
* If you're driving, position your seat as far from the steering wheel
as possible while still allowing you to comfortably reach the pedals.
If
your car has airbags, bear in mind these are designed to be used with
seat belts, not in place of them. And if you are in an accident, be
sure to see your doctor, even if you feel fine or your injuries appear
slight.
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