Memorial combats rise in shaken-baby cases with new program

For 25 infants and toddlers treated at Memorial Hospital for Children this year, their fragile brains were no match for the fists and fury of adults.

Six died. The rest ended up with devastating and long-lasting problems such as blindness, paralysis and severe brain damage.

The numbers by themselves are bad enough, but they indicate a troubling development. So far this year, Memorial has recorded double the number of deaths from abuse-related injuries compared with last year, and the 25 serious abuse cases in the first seven months of 2009 are well on track to pass the 26 cases for all of 2008.

Memorial officials are responding to the recent rise in abuse cases — most of them involving shaken babies — with an educational program they hope will bring those numbers down. Starting Aug. 1, all parents with babies born at Memorial will be taught about the dangers of shaking a baby and how to cope with crying before they are sent home. Whenever possible, the hospital hopes to teach additional family members as well.

Other places in the U.S. are reporting similar increases in head injuries stemming from abuse, according to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome. No one knows why, but some experts speculate the stress from the economy may be pushing more people over the edge, said Amy Wicks, spokeswoman for the center. There is no clearinghouse for shaken baby statistics nationally, but experts estimate there are between 1,200 and 1,400 cases a year.

No matter the reason, the outcome is almost always traumatic. The force of shaking a baby can shear the lining of the brain, causing bleeding and pressure inside the skull and tearing the fibers within the brain itself, said Dr. Paul Grabb, Memorial’s pediatric neurosurgeon.

The results are horrifying: Children are often left in comas, paralyzed, unable to feed, prone to seizures or severely retarded. In many cases the retinal nerves detach, causing blindness.

In most cases, the victims are infants who are shaken in a moment of frustration, typically triggered by their crying. At Memorial, the oldest child admitted for such abuse this year was 3.. More than 90 percent were younger than 2, said nurse Sally Duncan, Memorial’s injury prevention specialist. Of those admitted for suspected abuse, 80 percent suffered brain injuries.

The aim of the new program is to catch parents and potential caregivers before they encounter that 3 a.m. moment when a baby won’t stop wailing.

New mothers will be asked to watch an eight-minute video that tells the stories of severely disabled shaken-baby survivors, as well as one who died. A nurse will be there to make sure there are no distractions and to discuss the material with the mother to make sure she understood it. Then, the parent will be asked to sign a certificate.

Memorial Health System is paying for the program with $25,000 from the El Pomar Foundation and the Memorial Auxiliary.

Hospitals nationwide are adopting similar programs, and research has shown the method can cut abuse cases almost in half.

Memorial officials hope for similar success — and they’re hopeful the education program won’t end with them. Duncan and other Memorial officials have talked to Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, Evans Army Community Hospital at Fort Carson, and several local pediatricians about adopting some or all of the program. So far, she said, the response has been enthusiastic.

The increase in cases may be unusual for Memorial, but the circumstances are not. Babies at the highest risk come from poor and uneducated families, and most often they are abused by men. “The stereotype is a boyfriend, not the father, watching the child while mom is out working a second job,” said Grabb.

But Donna Billek, senior deputy district attorney with the 4th Judicial District’s Special Victims Unit, said anyone — a grandmother, a babysitter, rich or poor — can end up in court. “We have regular families that people see in Target and King Soopers, or wherever, that may be the ones in the emergency room.”

Even though mothers will likely be the ones taking part in the program, that doesn’t mean the message won’t have a greater reach. The idea is that moms will be more careful about whom they leave their kids with, and they will pass on what they’ve learned to those who watch their babies.

To read the story of a man who survived being shaken as a baby, click here.

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