Designing and Testing a Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Program—The Period of PURPLE Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina

Abstract

Each year infants die or are permanently disabled at the hands of their caregivers by abusive head trauma, more commonly known as Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS). Current medical research confirms the central role of infant crying in triggering shaking by caregivers; anecdotally, inconsolable crying is the most common explanation given by abusers. Although SBS prevention efforts have been initiated, most remain unevaluated. This article provides an overview of a 5-year, evidence-based SBS-prevention program called The Period of PURPLE Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina from a social marketing perspective. The project includes three components: (1) in-hospital education for parents of every newborn at all 86 hospitals=birthing centers in North Carolina; (2) reinforcement in community settings such as prenatal visits to health departments or well-child care visits to primary care providers; and (3) a media campaign.

Prevention of Child Maltreatment

“…A statewide campaign in North Carolina has incorporated in-hospital postpartum education, community-based education in primary care offices and health departments, and a media campaign. 47 To date, there have been no publications specifically examining whether the intervention leads to a reduction in the rate of abusive head trauma.…”

Prematurity and neonatal comorbidities as risk factors for nonaccidental trauma

“…Interventions broadly educating parents of newborns about abusive head trauma or shaken baby syndrome already exist [18,19], but we have the opportunity identify a high risk subpopulation. Pediatric surgeons and neonatologists are often intimately involved in the care of these medically complex children and thus have the unique opportunity to identify at-risk children before their discharge from the newborn nursery or NICU.…”

Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma Prevention Initiatives: A Literature Review

“…This program was replicated in upstate New York, also yielding a significant reduction of 75% in the number of AHT cases after program implementation (Altman et al, 2011), indicating the effectiveness of this initiative in the prevention of this form of abuse. Based on the promising results of studies by Dias et al (2005) and Altman et al (2011), several other initiatives seeking to raise awareness of AHT were developed, with emphasis on the program The Period of PURPLE Crying Barr et al, 2015;Barr, Rivara, et al, 2009;Fujiwara, 2015;Fujiwara et al, 2012;Hennink-Kaminski & Dougall, 2009;Reese et al, 2014;Runyan et al, 2009;Shanahan, Nocera, Zolotor, Sellers, & Runyan, 2011;Stephens et al, 2014;Stewart et al, 2011). The development of this initiative was the starting point for the creation of a set of preventive materials entitled, The Period of PURPLE Crying (PURPLE; Runyan et al, 2009).…”