Proper Way of Wearing Seatbelts to Protect Fetus
CHETRY: There's a new study that says pregnant women should buckle up every time they are in a vehicle, debunking a long-standing myth that wearing a seatbelt could actually be worse for an expectant mom. Well, chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is at the medical update desk with details. I can just picture you in the car right now with your wife, buckle up. Buckle up.</s>DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I tell --</s>CHETRY: Go ahead.</s>GUPTA: I tell that all the time certainly. I think, you know, maybe this is common sense for a lot of people out there. Pregnant women thinking about buckling up when they're driving. But there has been a concern, as you pointed out that could the seatbelts actually be doing more damage? So researchers at the University of Michigan decided to put this to the test. I thought it was a pretty interesting study. Actually looking at pregnant women over 20 weeks and trying to figure out just exactly what the outcomes were in women who wore seatbelts versus not wearing seatbelts. And what they did was they sort of split it into -- split the outcomes into two groups. Good outcomes and bad outcomes. A good outcome meant that if the baby was born near term and it was healthy, a bad outcome usually meant something known as abruptio placenta. And what that basically means is the placenta separated too early or ruptured and led to a bad outcome. What they found out was pretty interesting. Again, there was an 84 percent reduction in bad outcomes if women wore their seatbelts. Now, I want to point out something here. Maybe clear up some of the misconceptions. Take a look at some of this video. This is crash test dummy video, actually looking at pregnant women specifically. This is a woman who's obviously buckled in. In slow mo, you see an accident. This is 20 miles an hour. What maybe a little bit hard for you to tell, even in slow motion there, is when the seatbelt is starting to tug, it's actually tugging along the sides much more so than the front. And now, if you look at a video of a pregnant woman who is not restrained in the middle of a car accident and you'll see basically what happens in slow mo. Lots of hard surfaces coming in contact with the abdomen, increasing intra- abdominal pressure and that could potentially be very harmful to the unborn baby. This is one of the most common crash tests that pregnant women typically endure. And again, that outcome significantly reduced, the seatbelt was worn.</s>CHETRY: And as you said, you know, it pulls a little bit tighter on the sides. So it appears that it's not going to do as much damage as you probably fear. There is, though, a right way to wear the seatbelt that you have to think about, right?</s>GUPTA: Yes, absolutely. This is sort of interesting as well. Again, maybe common sense, and maybe it just fits in a certain way. But, you know, I think the best way to really show this is to demonstrate it. That's exactly what I'm going to do for you here. Take a look.</s>GUPTA: There are a couple of things you want to keep in mind when buckling your seatbelt if you're a pregnant woman. Simone (ph) here is 31 weeks pregnant. She's agreed to help us. Well, go ahead and put your seatbelt on here. Simone (ph) will demonstrate. First thing, you have two straps. The abdominal strap, you want to make sure this is low and tight as possible. One common misconception, if there is an accident, it actually tightens up on the sides here as opposed to on the belly. So it shouldn't be really dangerous to the baby. Also, if it doesn't fit you can think about using a seatbelt extender. As far as this upper strap, you want to start just as Simone (ph) did across the side of the stomach, come up the middle of the chest, then land sort of in the middle of the collarbone on the one side here. That's the best way to put the seatbelt on. Again, low and tight, and across the middle of the collarbone.</s>GUPTA: And I'll point out another quick thing if I can, Kiran. Another misconception about air bags. That was a question we got a lot as well. All scientific studies show air bags are fine for pregnant women and for other passengers as well. What the big goal of those is again to keep the abdomen here and the fetus from hitting any hard surfaces. Air bags do a very good job at that. So very safe as well, Kiran.</s>CHETRY: All right. Good advice.</s>GUPTA: Buckle up, Kiran.</s>CHETRY: Buckle up. Absolutely.</s>GUPTA: Talking to you.</s>CHETRY: Every time. I know you're talking to me. Thanks, Sanjay.</s>GUPTA: All right. Take care.</s>ROBERTS: It's coming up on 23 minutes after the hour. Gluttons for pork. We are hemorrhaging cash in the United States, but Congress just can't stop spending. The projects that just couldn't wait until after the economic slowdown, coming right up.