MONDAY, Sept. 16, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- Even before you're born, you have between a 1 percent and 2 percent chance of being in an auto accident.
That's the conclusion of a new study from Pittsburgh researchers, who found that between 33,000 and 66,000 pregnant women in this country are involved in car wrecks each year.
Fortunately, the vast majority of these incidents don't involve serious injuries or deaths. However, in earlier work, the scientists estimated that 370 fetuses die in accidents every year on American roads, more than twice as many as the 180 infants killed annually in crashes.
For women 20 weeks or more into gestation, collisions account for about 80 percent of all lost pregnancies, that study found. Direct trauma to the fetus is rarely responsible for the fatalities, experts say. Rather, the deaths typically occur when the placenta is torn from the uterus or is otherwise damaged by the force of impact.
Dr. Harold Weiss, a University of Pittsburgh traffic safety expert, led the new study, which appears in the September issue of Injury Prevention, as well as the earlier research on the topic.
Weiss says he didn't look at the impact of a crash on the health of the fetus. However, previous studies have hinted that pregnant women who aren't belted in during a collision are more likely than those who are restrained to deliver an underweight baby. Other evidence suggests fetuses involved in crashes may suffer head injuries and movement disorders. More studies are needed to address this issue, Weiss says.
Weiss and a colleague analyzed accidents reported to police between 1995 and 1999 involving women aged 15 to 39. They found 427 with a pregnant driver or passenger, leading to an overall incidence estimate of 32,810 per year. Accidents were distributed roughly equally across the three trimesters of pregnancy, with a slight bulge in the second trimester.
The highest rate of crashes among pregnant women occurred in the youngest age group, those who were 15 to 19. Among women of peak childbearing age, 20 to 29, 3 percent or more were involved in accidents, the researchers estimate.
Pregnant women appear to be about half as likely as non-pregnant women to be involved in accidents, the researchers found. However, since many accident victims may be newly pregnant without knowing it, the actual difference is probably slimmer.
The number of women in auto accidents each year jumped 60 percent between 1975 and 1990, as the number of miles they drove rose.
While pregnancy didn't affect seat belt use or severity of the accidents, pregnant women were more likely to be treated at the scene or taken to the hospital. Weiss says that's probably because they were concerned about the potential risk to their unborn baby and wanted medical attention. "Most crashes are minor, and there's probably not too much to worry about," he adds.
Weiss advised pregnant women to take fewer and shorter car trips, and try to use public transportation. "If you must go by car, drive during daylight hours and in good weather," he says.
You don't have to shun cars altogether -- though of course, that's the best way to avoid being in an accident. When you do drive, always wear your seatbelt: "All the evidence points that way," Weiss says. Also, keep the air bag connected, and you can reduce your risk of harm by letting someone else drive, since the steering wheel can be dangerous in a crash.
What To Do
For more information on how to drive safely during pregnancy, try ePregnancy.com.
For more traffic safety tips, try the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration. And for more on injury prevention, try San Diego State University.
