Promoting safe transport for children and newborns in Moldova

Each year during the UN’s Global Breastfeeding Week the Automobile Club of Moldova (ACM), in partnership with the National Patrolling Inspectorate (NPI), join Moldova’s National Breastfeeding March with the aim of meeting parents and carers and promoting another vital issue related to children’s safety: road safety and the safe transportation of children.

Like the benefits of breastfeeding, the safe and correct transportation of a newborn in a car is vital to keeping them safe and healthy from the moment they are born. Choosing an appropriate child car seat is essential: parents must be aware that choosing the right car seat will depend on the height and weight of their child (rather than their age) and should plan accordingly.

There are four main types of child car seat to be used depending on the child’s size, moving babies and younger children to the next seat up before they reach the maximum weight or height could lead to more severe injuries in a crash.

As such, parents who attended the events in Chisinau for Breastfeeding Week all received useful information on safe and conscious driving behaviour as well as guidance on the importance of using child restraint systems in their cars and instruction on how to choose the appropriate car seat for their children and how to install them correctly.  

The ACM and NPI also organised a programme of road safety themed games and competitions for older children. For their participation, the children received as ‘prizes’ reflective gifts, pencils, notebooks with traffic rules, and stickers for their parent’s cars.

The ACM urges all parents to be responsible while driving and install the appropriate child restraint systems for their child in the car!