Automobile Seat Belt Practices of Pregnant Women

Arneson, Sara W.; Beltz, Ellen; Hahnemann, Barbara; Smith, Rosemary; Triplett, June L.; Witt, Valerie

doi:10.1111/j.1552-6909.1986.tb01405.x

Cited by 13 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued guidelines on seatbelt usage for pregnant women in 1991 15 . Subsequent audit in the USA and Australia suggests many pregnant women are not complying with these recommendations 16–21 . The 1998 report 22 on confidential enquiries into maternal deaths in the United Kingdom 1994–1996 has made recommendations for the UK for education and training of pregnant women and health care workers including:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Car seatbelts in pregnancy: the practice and knowledge of pregnant women remain causes for concern

Johnson¹,

Pring²

2000

BJOG

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ObjectiveDesign A structured questionnaire. Setting District hospital antenatal clinic.Participants Two hundred pregnant women attending for their routine mid-pregnancy anomaly scan. Main outcome measuresTo evaluate current knowledge and practice among pregnant women about the use of car restraint systems during pregnancy.The women were asked about seatbelt and airbag usage, source of information about restraint systems and the legal requirements and recommendations regarding car safety systems.One hundred fifty-nine women (80%) completed the questionnaire. Ninety-eight percent wore seatbelts in the front, 68% wore seatbelts in the back of a car, 48% correctly identified where to place the seatbelt and 37% had received information on seatbelt use while pregnant. The latter were more likely to correctly position their restraints than those who had received no information ( P = 0.03). Thirty-nine percent had an airbag system fitted and one woman had de-activated it. Fifty-eight percent were aware seatbelt use was a legal requirement for driver and passengers when fitted.Many pregnant women are ignorant of the correct usage of seatbelts, their positioning and legal requirements. This puts their own wellbeing, and that of the fetus, at risk. Women should receive written instructions and advice from well informed health professionals and be encouraged always to wear a correctly positioned seatbelt. Education increases compliance and correct usage. Results Conclusions INTRODUCTIONLavenne developed the seatbelt in France in 1903 for use in aeroplanes and it was adopted for use in motor racing. From this approach evolved the standard threepoint restraint fitted in automobiles today'. Accident investigation in a research work published by De Haven entitled 'Injuries and death by car collision' in the 1950s identified that in 25% of serious accidents, death was caused by ejection from the car'. Adoption of the threepoint seatbelt has decreased deaths from road traffic accidents by 45% and moderate to critical injuries by 50%2. It became a statutory requirement to use seatbelts in the UK in 1983 in the front seats, and rear seats in 1991. The Department of Transport estimated that 200 lives and 7000 serious injuries a year are avoided by the compulsory use of seatbelts in front seats and that 100 deaths a year and 1000 major injuries are prevented when rear seatbelts are used in conjunction with front seat belts3. 644Trauma from motor accidents occurs in 2%-3% of pregnancies, 90% of which are of a minor nature. Fetal loss is reported as occurring in 1 %-3%46 and pregnancy outcome appears related to seatbelt use in a car accident7-12. In 1971, Crosby et al. reported that the major cause of fetal death in an accident was maternal death and this was significantly reduced by wearing a seatbelt. Fetal survival was improved if a three-point seatbelt rather than a lapbelt alone was ~o r n~, '~, '~.The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued guidelines on seatbelt usage for pregnant women in 199115. Subsequent ...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Car seatbelts in pregnancy: the practice and knowledge of pregnant women remain causes for concern

Johnson¹,

Pring²

2000

BJOG

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“…However, this did not clearly distinguish between the (incorrect) position 'lap belt across the upper thighs' and the correct position according to guidelines 'across the hips'. Therefore, it is not surprising that Arneson et al [14], Hammond et al [15], Johnson and Pring [11], and McGwin et al [18] reported a high incidence of correct lap belt positioning such as approximately 40-79%. In this study, the incorrect 'flat across the upper thighs' and correct 'across hips and under abdomen' data are classified into two separate groups in order to investigate the real correct use rate of the lap section.…”

Section: Comparison With Previously Published Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correct Use of Three-Point Seatbelt by Pregnant Occupants

Açar

Edwards

Aldah

2017

Safety

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Abstract:The largest cause of accidental death and placental abruption in pregnancy is automobile collisions. Lives can be saved by correct use of the three-point seatbelt during pregnancy. Human interaction is essential for correct use of seatbelts. The objective of this study is to investigate pregnant women's use of correct shoulder section together with correct lap section as advised by obstetricians and highway experts and to identify the most common seatbelt misuse during pregnancy. An international web survey was conducted in five languages for this study. 1931 pregnant women reported their use of seatbelts and how they position the shoulder and lap sections of their seatbelts. Special attention was paid to distinguish between 'partly correct' and 'correct' seatbelt positioning. The questionnaire responses are used to determine the magnitude of every combination of the correct and incorrect shoulder and lap section of the seatbelt positioning during pregnancy. Results show that seatbelt usage in pregnancy is generally high in the world. However, the correct use of the entire seatbelt is very low, at only 4.3% of all respondents. 40.8% of the respondents use the shoulder portion of the belt correctly, whilst a 13.2% use the lap section correctly. The most common misuse is 'across abdomen' or 'not using the seatbelt at all', and both pose danger to pregnant women and their fetuses. Correct use of three point seatbelts is a challenge during pregnancy. We recommend that the media, medical community, and automotive industry provide targeted information about correct seatbelt use during pregnancy and accident databases include 'correct seatbelt use' information in crash statistics.

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