By Dr. David Wesson
As the head of Texas Children’s Level 1 pediatric trauma center, I have treated many children with severe head injuries sustained from vehicle crashes, sudden falls and recreation-related mishaps. One injury that is particularly heart wrenching to witness is abusive head trauma in infants. One of the most important missions of our trauma center is to prevent these injuries from happening in the first place.
Whether accidental or not, Shaken Baby Syndrome, the most common form of abusive head trauma, happens more frequently than you think. Just looking at the statistics from our pediatric trauma center, it is the number one cause of injury-related deaths in children during the first four years of life. As you can see from this pie chart, the largest child abuse age group comprises infants less than six months old.
Shaking a baby can lead to severe injury or even death. Just a few forceful shaking motions in a period of just a few seconds can cause tremendous brain damage where the child may never be normal again.
Abusive head trauma is a community-wide problem that permeates all socioeconomic backgrounds. I believe the most effective way to address this epidemic is through public awareness, universal parental education and community involvement.
I encourage everyone concerned with child health to support The Period of PURPLE Crying, a broad-based initiative to increase awareness about the effects of Shaken Baby Syndrome. I first learned about the full extent of this program and its scientific rationale in April when the program’s founder, Dr. Ronald Barr, a pediatrician and world expert on infant crying, came to Houston to deliver the seminar.
The PURPLE acronym stands for the six characteristics of a newborns’ behavioral activities in the first few weeks and months of life. While incessant cries from a newborn can be frustrating and anger provoking, it’s important for parents and other caretakers to remember that this is a normal and temporary phase in their child’s development.
I am grateful to our physicians and nurses at the Pavilion for Women for implementing The Period of Purple Crying program to educate new parents before they leave the hospital about the dangers of shaking a baby as well as providing them with helpful information on child development, crying and managing parental stress.
In partnership with Dr. Charles Cox, medical director of the pediatric trauma program at Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital, our goal is to ensure all birthing hospitals in the Houston area adopt this program and to increase public awareness of the problem of abusive head trauma with the help of our local public health departments, child abuse prevention experts, city leadership and other community stakeholders.
But, our mission doesn’t stop there. We need everyone’s participation. Spread the message of The Period of PURPLE Crying initiative to your colleagues, family members, new parents, grandparents, caregivers, neighbors and anyone else you come across.
“Our newborns’ lives are at stake. Will you join me on this mission?,” says Dr. David Wesson.