Medical association promotes wider use of rear-facing car seats

Taipei, Dec. 1 (CNA) The Taiwan Society of Perinatology held an event Sunday to raise awareness about the importance of rear-facing car seats and promote a program that offers them to expectant mothers through a free one-year rental.

At a news conference in Taipei, the society noted that a Ministry of Health and Welfare investigation into deaths of children under 7 in 2022-2023 found 122 deaths considered “highly preventable.”

Of the 79 accident-related deaths, 16 occurred in traffic accidents, six of which could have been avoided if the child had used a car seat, the medical association said.

Although Taiwan has required rear-facing car seats for children up to the age of two since 2022, many parents are still unaware of the safety risks posed to their child by not using such seats, said Chan Te-fu (詹德富), the Chairman of the society.

To that end, Chan said his organization collaborated with Taiwan’s website Mommy Care (媽咪學苑) to launch the “First Day Home” program, which offers expectant or new mothers free car seat rentals for up to a year.

According to the website, mothers can rent the program’s Hamilton car seats after paying a deposit of NT$5,000 (US$154) and providing their ID card and a government-issued maternal health education manual. You can pick up the car seat at a designated location or have it delivered for a fee of NT$500.

Lin Shin-yu (林芯伃), an attending physician at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at National Taiwan University Hospital, said such car seats are particularly important for newborns because they support the head and neck, which are extremely delicate at this time .

On the other hand, if a parent carrying their newborn in a baby carrier is involved in a car accident, there is a risk that the child will fly out, Lin said.

Lu Hong-yi (呂泓逸), a doctor at Bobson Obs-Gyn Clinic in New Taipei City, said rear-facing car seats provide an “extra layer of protection” for young children and have been shown to reduce the risk of death in car accidents, which have increased by over 70 percent.