NLMA gives safe seats to newborns
The Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA) has once again donated car seats to the families of each of the first babies born in 2018 at the 10 hospitals that perform routine deliveries in the province.
NLMA President Dr. Lynn Dwyer presented a car seat to new parents Stephanie and Andy Harding of St. John’s following the birth of their daughter, Alyssa Joy Harding. Alyssa was born at 2:37 a.m. on Jan. 1, at the Janeway Children’s Health and Rehabilitation Centre in St. John’s.
Dwyer said the intent of the NLMA’S car seat program is to encourage all parents to use approved car seats for their children from the moment they leave the hospital as newborns.
For more than 30 years, over 350 car seats have been
presented to families of newborns.
“The only safe way to keep small children protected in cars is with infant carriers, child seats and booster seats,” said Dwyer.
Accidents and injuries are the leading cause of preventable death for Canadian children between the ages of one and 11.
The leading cause of injuryrelated death in children is motor vehicle collisions.
Despite all provinces and territories having laws requiring the use of child safety seats, many injuries and deaths are directly attributed to nonuse or misuse of child restraints. According to the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS), misuse rates range from 44 per cent to 81 per cent for car seats.