Brokers may want to include a warning to clients who are expecting a child, as a recent study shows women in their second trimester have a 42 per cent relative increase in motor vehicle accidents.
In a study published by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, a sampling of pregnant women were found to have “a significant increase in motor vehicle accidents resulting in trips to hospital emergency rooms.”
The study looked at the risk of a serious motor vehicle crash during the second trimester to the baseline risk before pregnancy.
A total of 507,262 women gave birth during the study period. The women accounted for 6,922 motor vehicle crashes as drivers during the 3-year baseline interval (177 per month) and 757 motor vehicle crashes as drivers during the second trimester (252 per month), equivalent to a 42 per cent relative increase (95 per cent confidence interval 32 per cent – 53 per cent; p < 0.001).
According to the study, researchers conducted a “population-based self-matched longitudinal cohort analysis of women who gave birth in Ontario between April 1, 2006, and March 31, 2011.”
The researchers excluded women less than age 18, those living outside Ontario, those who lacked a valid health card identifier under universal insurance, and those under the care of a midwife.
The primary outcome was a motor vehicle crash resulting in a visit to an emergency department. (continued.)
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The increased risk extended to diverse populations, varied obstetrical cases and different crash characteristics. The increased risk was largest in the early second trimester and compensated for by the third trimester.
No similar increase was observed in crashes as passengers or pedestrians, cases of intentional injury or inadvertent falls, or self-reported risky behaviour.
