Southeastern Regional Medical Center was one of the first hospitals in the state to implement an evidence-based shaken baby prevention program this past September. Nurses at Southeastern began sharing the program materials and message with parents of all babies born there before discharge.

The goal of Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina is to reduce Shaken Baby Syndrome by 50 percent over the next five years in North Carolina; this represents the largest and most comprehensive intervention for Shaken Baby Syndrome in the country.

The first step in this process is for all 90 hospitals in the state that handle deliveries to share the materials and message with all parents and caregivers of infants. This way, the program will reach every parent of the approximately 125,000 babies born in the state annually.

Dr. Ron Barr created the concept of “The Period of PURPLE Crying” to help describe the characteristics of crying in healthy infants. “PURPLE” describes normal infant crying:

— It Peaks at two months of age and ends at four or five months, and often earlier;

— Is Unexpected;

— Resists soothing;

— The child appears to be in Pain;

— It is Long lasting (2-5 hours);

— And occurs more in the Evening.

The word “period” lets parents know that this experience of increased, frustrating crying is temporary and eventually does come to an end.

Training and supplies were made available by Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina, a collaboration between the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, the University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research Center, and the Center for Child and Family Health.

Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina has received $7 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Duke Endowment. It is led by a broad coalition of stakeholders from the National Center for Shaken Baby Syndrome, University of British Columbia, state and county agencies, service providers, and non-profit organizations.

For more information about “The Period of PURPLE Crying,” call Southeastern’s nursery at (910) 671-5042 or the N.C. Family Health Resource Line at 1-800-367-2229.

— Amanda Crabtree is the public relations director for Southeastern Regional Medical Center. She can be reached at crabtr01@srmc.org.