Sometimes it pays to be an early adopter; this innovative pregnancy seat belt adjuster is one of those times.
When you see this picture you may be asking what do the light bulb and Tummy Shield have in common?
The light bulb
Author and personal development coach, Bob Proctor, says there is only one problem in the universe and that problem is ignorance. He goes on to define ignorance as simply the absence of awareness or knowledge on a given topic.
He tells a story of when Thomas Edison commercialized the light bulb. The idea didn’t catch fire with the general public right away. Though they realized the need for a cleaner and safer way to light their homes, they thought the gas lamps and candles they had were good enough and the light bulb was just “too expensive”.
Download our free PDF guide: Safer Driving During Pregnancy
It’s true, in the beginning, before there was an electricity distribution system, generating electricity in your home for just one light bulb was cost prohibitive for many. And like Tesla electric cars or Apple watches today, in the beginning light bulbs were status symbols of the tech-savvy rich, the “early adopters”. It took decades for not only the infrastructure to be developed and the cost to come down but also for the mass population to see the value and adopt the technology in their homes too.
Can you imagine where we would be if no one ever thought the electricity infrastructure was worth investing in? Fast forward 150 years. Everyone uses light bulbs and so many other electric devices. Without it many things we take for granted now, like computers, would not have been invented.
Innovation not only precedes regulation, it also precedes public approval, acceptance and ultimately a change in behavior.
Electricity and the light bulb is just one example.
The seat belt and car seats
Let’s look at the seat belt. The seat belt was invented and installed in cars years before it was regulated and decades before most of the population saw the value in it and used it. And there’s still not 100% usage.
How about kid’s car seats. Again designed, created and sold years before there were regulations to mandate performance or standards to test it to (get a general history of car seats). Here also it was many decades before the majority of the population was using car seats. Even now there isn’t 100% usage. All the data show that in about 33% of the crashes which fatally injure children, the child wasn’t using a child restraint.
Seat belt during pregnancy
Many pregnant women have felt the need for something better than “just the seat belt” for years.We’ve compiled a list of studies indicating the seat belt is not good enough for pregnancy women. One 2015 study says unborn babies are at 5 times the risk of newborns in the car. And that only counts the pregnancies that are lost when the mother is fatally injured as well. It does not include when just the pregnancy is lost.
Other studies estimate anywhere from 500 to 5,000 pregnancies are lost every year in the US from car crashes. Many are not reported. And many are not connected to the crash which may have occurred weeks before the loss.
The fact is there are no crash test requirements for pregnant occupants of seat belts.
Now there is an innovation to help parents-to-be protect their unborn babies while mom is in the car. This pregnancy seat belt adapter is the Tummy Shield. The Tummy Shield has been available internationally since 2008 and in the USA from Safe Ride 4 Kids since 2014. It not only offers greater comfort for the pregnant women; it also has been crash tested to prove it provides an additional layer of safety.
Does it need to take decades before you start protecting your unborn baby in the car? What would it take for you to be an early adopter?
If you need more information, we have articles on the stats of driving while pregnant, the real risks and potential injuries to the unborn baby and/or mom involved.
Be an “Early Adopter,” get your Tummy Shield
pregnancy seat belt adjuster now!
We want to know, what have you adopted early? Share your comments below.
By Greg Durocher, CEO at Safe Ride 4 Kids and certified CPS Technician Instructor since 2002 and Amie Durocher, Creative Director at Safe Ride 4 Kids and certified CPS Tech since 2004
Copyright 2019 Safe Ride 4 Kids. All rights reserved. You may not publish, broadcast, rewrite or redistribute this material without permission. You are welcome to link to Safe Ride 4 Kids or share on social media.
We originally published this post in March 2016. We updated the article for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
