Innovative North Carolina Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention project wins prestigious national award.  Governor Bev Perdue proclaims January the month of the Period of PURPLE Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina .

Raleigh, NC – January 7, 2010 – An internationally recognized child abuse expert presented the state of North Carolina with a national award today to honor the largest and most comprehensive evidence-based shaken baby prevention initiative in the country, the Period of PURPLE Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina.

This unique, 5-year, statewide test of the PURPLE program seeks to create understanding and a culture shift about the normalcy of early increased infant crying, the frustration that can accompany it, and how to cope. Frustration with early infant crying is the primary trigger for shaking which can result in death or severe, irreversible, lifelong brain damage.

The PURPLE  program also includes individual, in-hospital parent education and research-tested take home tools; a DVD and booklet to reinforce the key messages.
 
Through in-depth understanding and parental/caregiver behavior change, the ultimate goal is to prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome and save infants lives.
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The creators of the Period of PURPLE Crying program, Dr. Ronald G. Barr, the leading international authority on infant crying and a developmental pediatrician at the University of British Columbia and British Columbia Hospital; and Marilyn Barr, founder and executive director of the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, widely praised the North Carolina team’s success in implementing the program statewide.

Dr. Barr noted, “North Carolina has the top pediatricians, preeminent pediatric researchers, and some of the best birthing hospitals in the country. The Period of PURPLE Crying program is here because of them.”

In presenting the award from the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, Marilyn Barr said, “North Carolina’s leaders have been at the forefront of infant and child abuse prevention, and significant, innovative public health initiatives, making North Carolina the ideal place to test the program.”

To date, more than 5,000 workers at 86 hospitals and birthing centers in North Carolina have been trained to teach parents about The Period of  PURPLE  Crying.  By the end of the study, more than a half-million parents of newborns will have received education and information about the  PURPLE  program.

Dr. Desmond Runyan, professor of social medicine and pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and principal investigator for the project through the University’s Injury Prevention Research Center, accepted the award. “We are humbled and honored to be recognized for our work. There is nothing more important than protecting children and saving lives.”

He added, “Shaking is more common than people may think. A recent North Carolina baseline survey shows that almost one in 100 parents of children under 2-years of age reported that they or their partner had shaken a child.”
 
Dr. Robert Murphy, executive director of the Center for Child and Family Health, associate professor of psychiatry at Duke University, and implementation lead for the project noted, “The hospitals, nurses, administrators and support staff have done – and continue to do – an extraordinary job educating every parent of a baby born in 86 hospitals around the state.”

At least 50 cases of Shaken Baby Syndrome are diagnosed each year in North Carolina but experts believe that a significantly higher number of additional Shaken Baby Syndrome cases go undiagnosed every year.
 
Chair of the North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force, Tom Vitaglione noted, “Shaken Baby Syndrome is more than a crime, it’s a pressing, yet preventable public health issue.”

He added, “By changing expectations and social norms about infant crying, the five-year program seeks to significantly reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries that occur when frustrated caregivers shake crying babies.” 

To recognize and raise awareness of this important project, Governor Bev Perdue has proclaimed January the Period of  PURPLE  Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina month.

To help achieve cultural change across North Carolina,  PURPLE  project leaders announced several key partnerships. Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina and the North Carolina Partnership for Children have formed an alliance with the Period of  PURPLE  Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina. All three organizations have statewide networks and share common goals. Working together, the three can be even more effective in keeping babies safe in North Carolina – and ultimately in saving lives.

The Carolina Hurricanes have also joined in support of the Period of  PURPLE  Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina, and will honor the  PURPLE  project at a Hurricanes hockey game on January 30th.

The initiative will also use extensive public education, including the launch of a media campaign and outreach efforts of a statewide leadership team of local non-profit, service providers and government workers who will serve as “ambassadors” to advance the project’s mission and scope. 

The Period of  PURPLE  Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Duke Endowment.

The Period of  PURPLE  Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina, is the largest and most comprehensive evidence-based shaken baby prevention initiative in the country. By changing expectations and social norms about infant crying, the program seeks to significantly reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries that occur when frustrated caregivers shake crying babies. For more: www.  PURPLE  cryingnc.info.

Contact:
Lyn Jackson
(919) 961.1081
Ljackson@purplecrying.info
www.PURPLEcryingnc.info