Iowa DOT News Release

The Iowa departments of Public Health and Transportation today announced a coordinated, statewide plan to help encourage pregnant and postpartum women to buckle up to prevent death and reduce serious injuries due to vehicle crashes. The most recent Maternal Mortality Review found that 18 percent of Iowa’s maternal deaths were from motor vehicle crashes; 71 percent of the pregnant or postpartum women who died were not wearing a seat belt.

Buckling up through all stages of your pregnancy is the single most effective action you can take to protect yourself and your unborn child in a crash. If you’re involved in a crash during pregnancy, even a minor impact could have major implications. For more information, go to https://zerofatalitiesiowa.com/buckleup.aspx.

To encourage seat belt use in soon-to-be and new mothers, the Iowa Department of Public Health and its statewide perinatal quality care work group, the Iowa Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, is partnering with the Department of Transportation, Zero Fatalities, the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau and Safe Kids Iowa to launch a statewide social media campaign that reminds pregnant and postpartum women that seat belts are safe for mom and for baby. The campaign will run July 1, 2020, through Sept. 30, 2020.

All Iowans are reminded to always use seat belts when driving or riding in a vehicle.

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Contact: Stephanie Trusty, Iowa Department of Public Health, at 515-321-1393  or email Stephanie.Trusty@idph.iowa.gov.