Seat belt use during pregnancy in Iran: attitudes and practices.

OBJECTIVE

Seat belt use during pregnancy reduces injury to the mother and her fetus. During recent years, the use of seat belts has been mandated by law in Iran. The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes and practices of pregnant women regarding seat belt use.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, we asked 335 pregnant women at a hospital-based prenatal care clinic on the use of safety belt before and during pregnancy. SPSS version 13.0 was used for data analysis.

RESULTS

The mean age of study subjects was 27.3 years ± 5.3 years with the median of 27 years. Compared with the seat belt use before pregnancy, no change was detected in 48.7% of the women; seat belt use had increased in 17.5 % of them and decreased in 33.8 %. Eighty-one percent of women knew the correct placing of both lap belt and shoulder belt. Only 4% of women had received education on proper restraint use during pregnancy.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of seat belt use during pregnancy is lower than reports which are mostly from developed nations. The fact that about one-third of women have decreased their seat belt usage during pregnancy highlights the importance of education of mothers on this topic.