News Moms Need

Last week I posted on the importance of booster seats for “big kids.”   Prior to that I posted on car seats for babies being used only in cars.   And our website has great info on car seat selection and safety.   So by now I’m sure you get that we’re really into protecting our kids in traffic, regardless of size or age.

So how about protecting them, not to mention you, before they are born?  Experts agree that everyone, including pregnant women, should wear a seat belt when riding in a car. As you know, when used properly, seat belts save lives and lower the chances of severe injury during car crashes.

Depending on how severe the car accident is, pregnant women could be at risk for miscarriage and preterm birth and other serious complications. In fact, the more injuries a mother sustains during a car accident, the greater the risk to her unborn baby. If the pregnant woman is wearing her seat belt properly at the time of the accident, she and her baby will face fewer injuries.

I don’t want to spook you, but there are nearly 170,000 car crashes involving pregnant women every year. So it’s important for moms in all stages of pregnancy to properly wear seat belts at all times when traveling in a car. 

Guidelines for Wearing a Seat Belt
• Always wear both the lap and shoulder belt.
• Buckle the lap strap under your belly and over your hips.
• Never place the lap belt across your belly.
• Rest the shoulder belt between your breasts and off to the side of your belly.
• Never place the shoulder belt under your arm.
• If possible, adjust the shoulder belt height to fit you correctly.
• Make sure the seat belt fits snugly.

Tags: car accdent, car safty, pregnant, prgnancy, seat belts

This entry was posted on Friday, September 10th, 2010 at 8:58 am and is filed under Pregnancy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.