From her vantage point in the parent education room, Liz Whitney can see exactly how many new mums and dads fail to heed car-safety warnings.

The room looks out over the departure area of the maternity unit at Bradford Royal Infirmary where new-born babies are put into cars for the first journey home.

Despite being a regular topic in ante-natal classes, Liz, parent education co-ordinator, still sees many proud parents taking their babies home without a car seat - a decision which could prove fatal.

"We see them getting into cars holding the baby in their arms," said Liz. "What would happen if there is a crash is that the baby will fly out of mum's arms into the dashboard or even out of the car."

Now midwives at Bradford Royal Infirmary have teamed up with Bradford Road Safety officers to mount a special exhibition targeted at pregnant women and new parents.

A display in the maternity unit - one of the busiest in the UK with 5,500 babies born every year - will highlight the importance of car safety.

A hard-hitting information leaflet entitled Nine months to carry...seconds to kill! will be given to all women in hospital and there will be a quiz for parents to complete.

Liz said: "The aim of the campaign is to increase the percentage of parents who purchase car seats for their new-born babies and to raise awareness of the importance of buying the right kind of seat for their vehicle."

The Bradford initiative coincides with a publication by the Consumer Association's Which? magazine on child-seat safety. The independent consumer guide found while adults are being increasingly well protected in a crash, child safety is being left behind.

Which? crash tests found that in a severe crash, most child-safety seats would fail to prevent chest, neck and neck injuries and potentially fatal head injuries.

The results for three seats were so poor Which? is recommending people do not buy them.

In the test on Mothercare's Daytona seat, the impact would have caused brain damage or death. The other two seats which performed poorly were The Mon Bebe Turbo Up and the Klippan Futura, also available as the Mama's and Papa's Sicuro.

But, despite there shortcomings, Which? stresses that any properly fitted child seat will offer far better protection than not using one at all.