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New Seat Belt for Pregnant Women
Discomfort is one of the necessary hallmarks of pregnancy. When you’ve got a tiny human jutting out from the middle of your body, things just aren’t going to feel right. And that just happens to include seat belts.
Fitting a seat belt over a baby bump is tricky, but a British entrepreneur thinks he’s got the answer. Stephen Weston has invented a pregnancy safety harness for pregnant drivers that eliminates the lap belt and that would spread the force of impact across the shoulders and upper body instead. Take a look:
Weston invented the harness after hearing about a pregnant woman who was ticketed for not wearing her seat belt, a risk she took because she was uncomfortable. In fact, according to Weston’s website, 87 percent of pregnant women aren’t wearing their seat belts correctly, and 65 percent feel that the belt itself poses a danger to their unborn baby. According to the March of Dimes, mother and baby are both safer when a seat belt is worn.
The harness is in crash testing right now and may become available to consumers in 2010. In the meantime, here are some tips for wearing your seat belt correctly and comfortably as possible during pregnancy.
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5 Comments
[...] New Seat Belt for Pregnant Women [...]
Woman Labors in Bathroom After Doctors Send Her Home | Strollerderby commented on Nov 17 09 at 4:30 pmmamadoc commented on Nov 11 09 at 11:54 amYou are not supposed to wear your seat belt across your belly. The belt should be placed across your hip bones, below you belly.
Vet Tech commented on Nov 11 09 at 1:34 pmThis can’t even be safe. Why would you want the force of impact on your chest and shoulders only?? If we’re doing this, then I guess babies don’t need 5-point harnesses either. All I can say is OUCH. You need the lap belt (low, under the belly) to spread out the force of impact, and especially near the hips as this is one of the strongest parts of our bodies. Worn correctly, pregnant women can wear a regular seatbelt and comfortably even. Been there twice so far, peeps, and never had a problem wearing my seatbelt.
Eric commented on Nov 11 09 at 2:42 pmI could see a high risk of ‘submarining’ with such a high harness. That’s why racing drivers wear 5 or 6 point belts! The risk of submarining is increased in women who have a lower center of gravity than men.
Stephen Weston commented on Mar 22 11 at 6:13 pmHi,
Ladies, you are right: the article is wrong!
I am the inventor of the Pregnancy Seatbelt Harness and it’s designed to be worn with the existing inertia reel seatbelt, with the lap strap under the belly and the shoulder harness anchored by the diagonal strap, which is placed behind the wearer.
You can see the harness being crash tested on The Discivery Channel. Go to http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/#clip399950 , then fast forward 7mins 30secs.
PS: Sorry for the delay; I’ve only just found out you published the article.
Kindest regards,
Steve Weston
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