Automakers in Spain focus on the safety of pregnant

The initiative, in conjunction with biomedical researchers, seeks to prevent fetal deaths that occur in traffic accidents.

Shifting the emphasis traditionally has focused on safety seats for babies and toddlers in cars, researchers and automotive manufacturers seeking to prevent fetal deaths making the trip safer for pregnant women.

Biomedical researchers are collaborating with automakers to develop a computer model for pregnant drivers and passengers in order to provide protection against accidents in future designs.


Stefan Duma, head of the School of Biomedical Engineering and Technological Sciences Wake Forest University in Blacksburg, Va., said the school recently completed a draft three-year investigation, partially funded by Ford, to collect data on the histological composition and dimensions of pregnant women and their fetuses.

"We can develop restraint systems for any vehicle and any occupant, but first we must see the wounds themselves, what happens in the tissues of the placenta and uterus during an accident,''said Duma, which has investigated a number of applications, even security devices for Blackhawk military helicopters.

There is no official federal statistics on the number of fetal deaths in car accidents. But Duma said that several groups estimate that occur annually from 300 to several thousand of these deaths resulting from motor vehicle crash, about four times the number of fatalities among infants and children under 4 years.

In total, 27,000 passenger vehicle occupants died in traffic crashes in 2008, according to the National Traffic Safety Carretero, and automobile accidents are a major cause of deaths of pregnant women.

Dr. Melissa Schiff, an obstetrician and epidemiologist at the Center for Injury Prevention and Research at Harborview, Washington, willingly received the attention given now to the safety of pregnant women.