Driving While Pregnant Can Almost Double Your Chance Of A Serious Crash

If you're pregnant and still driving, you may want to take extra care on the road.

Jokes about 'baby brain' aside, according to research, during the second trimester of pregnancy - weeks 14 - 26 - the chances of having a car crash are around 42%.

The Canadian study of more than 500,000 pregnant women found that in the three years before getting pregnant, the women between them had an average 177 crashes per month.

The crash rate rose to 252 per month (up 42%) in the second trimester, or middle period, of pregnancy.

Statistically, about one in 50 pregnant women can expect to be involved in a serious car crash while at the wheel, say the scientists writing in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The increased crash rate was "almost fully explained" by multiple-vehicle collisions in which the woman had been driving a car.

Lead researcher Dr Donald Redelmeier, from the University of Toronto, said: "Pregnant women often worry about air flights, scuba diving, hot tubs and other topics in maternal health, yet individuals may overlook traffic crashes despite their greater health risks.

"These findings are not a reason to decide not to have children or a reason to stop driving; instead, the findings primarily emphasise the need to drive more carefully."

Story continues below the slideshow:

7 Awesome Things Your Body Does During Pregnancy

1. Your Blood Volume Increases(01 of07)

During pregnancy, the volume of blood in a woman's body increases by a whopping 50 percent in order to help support the uterus. Accordingly, the amount of blood pumped by the heart increases as well. As the Merck Manual explains, by the end of pregnancy, a woman's uterus receives one-fifth of her pre-pregnancy blood supply. (credit:Getty)

2. You Actually Glow(02 of07)

If you find yourself looking all dewey and glow-y during your pregnancy, it's not just because you're brimming with I'm-about-to-become-a-mom sentiment; there's also a physiological basis for it. The aforementioned increase in circulation that occurs during pregnancy causes many women's faces to appear brighter, or flushed. And, as the American Pregnancy Association reports, as women's bodies produce more hormones, their oil glands can go into overdrive, resulting in that famed pregnancy glow. (credit:Getty)

3. You Grow An Entire Organ(03 of07)

During pregnancy, women's bodies grow a whole new organ, i.e., the placenta -- a structure that develops in the uterus and provides oxygen and nutrients to your growing baby (while also playing a key role in waste removal). The organ typically grows onto the upper part of the uterus and is linked to your baby via the umbilical cord. After your baby's born and the placenta's job is done, it is simply expelled through the birth canal (although some women, including a growing number of celebs, then ingest it for its reputed health benefits -- a practice known as "placentophagia"). (credit:Getty)

4. You Loosen Up(04 of07)

More specifically, as you move through your pregnancy, hormones (especially the aptly named "relaxin") help soften the ligaments that hold your bones together and the pelvic bones themselves begin moving to accommodate your baby's birth. Sometimes, this can cause a bit of pain and discomfort (if it's severe enough, you should see your doctor), although as What To Expect reports, once your baby is born, your joints will firm up again. (credit:Getty)

5. You Stop Shedding(05 of07)

Do you have the thickest, most amazing head of hair, like, ever? During pregnancy you stop shedding hair at it's normal rate. As Baby Center explains, most of the time between 85 and 95 percent of the hair on your head is growing, while the rest is in a "resting" stage, before it falls out. But during pregnancy, higher estrogen levels extend that growth phase, meaning you lose less hair and may suddenly find yourself with a gloriously thick ponytail. (Although, as we previously reported, after your baby's born, that "extra" hair will fall out.) (credit:Getty)

6. You Breathe Differently(06 of07)

It's not uncommon for pregnant women to feel short of breath, particularly later in their pregnancy when the uterus grows and begins to press on the diaphragm. But breathing also changes because of the high levels of the hormone progesterone in your body signal your brain to lower the levels of carbon dioxide in the blood, Merck explains -- yet another amazing example of all the things your body does to support and accommodate a growing baby. (credit:Getty)

7. You Become Particularly Orgasmic(07 of07)

As Babble explains, the increased blood flow to a woman's genitals -- plus the general surge in any number of hormones that influence desire -- can make many pregnant women feel libidinous. And those changes can also increase sensitivity, allowing many women to orgasm more easily. But as with all things related to sexuality, this is totally individual -- some women want nothing to do with sex while they're pregnant. (credit:Getty)

He added: "Even a minor motor vehicle crash during pregnancy could lead to irreparable consequences for mother and child. These findings underscore the importance of prevention and indicate that good prenatal care includes safe driving."

No similar increase in accidents was seen among pregnant pedestrians or car passengers. Nor did pregnancy increase the rate of falls or risky behaviour.

The study, which involved 507,262 pregnant women, looked at whether common features of pregnancy such as nausea, fatigue, insomnia and distraction might contribute to human error and increase the risk of traffic accidents.

In their paper, the researchers mention the effects of "baby brain" - a mental "fog" said to be associated with pregnancy - but stop short of linking it directly to a heightened risk of car accidents.

They wrote: "Subjective disturbances during pregnancy are commonly reported in the obstetrical literature where absentmindedness is denoted as 'baby brain' or other negative terms.

"Community surveys suggest that about half of pregnant women complain of sporadic cognitive lapses; however, laboratory studies in this setting provide results with uncertain clinical relevance."

The researchers also stressed that the absolute risk of pregnant women having a serious car crash was still lower than that of men of the same age.

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