Children and babies in Bradford are being put at risk because parents are not using the correct car seats.

Yesterday safety experts, doctors and midwives teamed up to urge parents to heed advice and make sure their precious cargo is transported correctly.

John Horsfall, an in-car safety expert, was at the maternity unit at Bradford Royal Infirmary to talk to parents, check car seats were correct for the age, weight and height of the child and make sure they were fitted correctly.

Mr Horsfall said: "Seventy per cent of car seats are incorrectly fitted. The message is: Try before you buy. Make sure the car seat is fitted correctly by trained staff and that you know how to fit it yourself."

Consultant Dr Sam Oddie, who cares for babies in the special care baby unit, said: "I am really pleased we have had so many people coming to our baby safety day and I hope we have started the process of promoting car seats and other baby safety measures.

"As a hospital we feel our responsibility to babies is not just looking after them when they are sick but also making sure their parents have access to the best possible safety advice. Car seats are a really good example of how families can minimise the chances of their children being killed or injured.

"We are really worried about the children we see in Bradford sitting on their parent's knee with a seat belt around both the parent and the child.

"This is the most dangerous way for a child to travel because if there was a crash the adult's weight would do serious injury to a child."

Tina Mori, parent education co-ordinator at Bradford Teaching Hospitals, said: "We are concerned about babies and children in Bradford not travelling safely in cars. Everyone who comes into the maternity unit gets information about how important car seats are.

"Some people do not realise that even if they do not have a car they will probably travel in a car with their baby at some point, so they need a car seat."

She said SureStart in Bradford ran a voucher scheme in four areas Barkerend, Manningham, Keighley and Little Horton to help parents with the cost of buying a suitable car seat.

e-mail: claire.lomax@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

WHAT THE MUMS AND DADS SAY
  • New parents Georgina McGeehan, 19, and Andrew Byrom, 26, of Thackley, bought their car seat a month before new son Callum Byrom, arrived on Tuesday.
  • "It is so important that babies are transported safely," said Mr Byrom.

Mr Horsfall told them it was important to use the head restraint in the seat for as long as possible to protect the baby's head from a side impact and to use any chest pads provided on the straps.

  • Ansir Iqbal, 22, of Undercliffe, has made sure his baby will be transported safely when he goes home from hospital.
  • "The car seat cost £76 but it was so important to pay that money to protect my son," he said. Mr Iqbal is a taxi driver and Mr Horsfall said any baby travelling in a taxi should be properly restrained.

Dr Oddie said: "Here we have a family going home in a taxi and doing absolutely the right thing by using a car seat for their beautiful newborn baby.

  • Shakeel Amimi, 27, and his wife Shanna, of Daisy Hill Lane, are the proud parents of a little boy, yet to be named, who was born on Monday.
  • The baby will be transported safely in the travel system bought by his parents in March. They have had plenty of time to work out how to fit the seat and Mr Horsfall offered advice.

He warned never to use rear-facing car seats in a front seat fitted with an air bag. Even if the air bag can be turned off, it might still activate by accident with the impact of a 160 mph bullet.

"It could cause catastrophic injury," he said.