The Nation - News from Sept. 29, 1986

Some premature infants under the age of 6 months suffer breathing problems and a severe loss of oxygen in the blood when placed in automobile restraint seats, a new study has found. Dr. Lynne Willett, a pediatrician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, conducted the study “after hearing so many stories from mothers who said their babies turned blue or fainted when they put them into the seats.” The phenomenon did not occur in full-term babies at the same weight, prompting Willett to advise parents not to drive with premature infants any more than is absolutely necessary, although she said she still supports the use of car seats for premature babies as a precaution against injury in accidents.