Shaken Baby Syndrome and the Economic Recession
When someone forcefully shakes a baby, the child's head moves uncontrollably because the neck muscles aren't well developed and provide little support. EACH YEAR, THOUSANDS OF YOUNG children suffer brain injury or die from being violently shaken. Children as old as 5 are vulnerable to shaken-baby syndrome (SBS), but infants between 2 and 4 months are especially at risk.
Time Magazine recently reported that the stressful effects of a faltering economy, skyrocketing unemployment and precarious personal finances can be dire. People take up smoking or use alcohol to cope, they become depressed or suicidal, and they develop stress-related illnesses like heart disease. Now researchers report that the harm may be spreading to children too, when parents' stress leads them to inadvertently injure their children.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1986500,00.html#ixzz0n4NnGujJ
1. The injuries may cause permanent disabilities such as blindness, seizures, mental retardation and cerebral palsy.
2. Even if the shaking was not intended to injure the baby, it is child abuse. Also, when a baby is shaken its head may hit an object.
3. Even a soft object can cause injury to newborns and small infants.
4. Since their heads are large and heavy in proportion to their bodies and the skulls fragile, the shaking also causes whiplash.
5. Researchers found that in more than 60 per cent of these cases the victims are boys.
6. The perpetrators are more likely to be men, either the caregiver or boyfriend of the mother.
7. Often, she adds, parents are not aware that their child has been abused and seek help only when they notice mild or severe symptoms such as decreased alertness, extreme irritability, lethargy, poor feeding, vomiting, loss of vision, seizures, and pale or bluish skin. Since there are no visible signs of injury the condition can be difficult to diagnose and may not be identified during a visit to a doctor.
8. Injuries such as rib fractures however, can be seen with an X-ray.
9. An estimated 1,200 to 1,400 cases of SBS occur each year in the United States.
10. Some of these involve young, unmarried mothers with little education and who come from unstable family situations, or mothers who have had multiple pregnancies.
Carole Jenny, MD, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University; Director, Child Protection Program, Hasbro Children's Hospital, published a relevant book entitled CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT in 2010.
Key Features include how to:
-Identify an abusive injury and treat it effectively by reviewing evidence and critical analyses from leading authorities in the field.
-Recognize the signs of shaken baby syndrome, sex offenders and abuse in religious organizations.
-Understand the biomechanics of injury to determine whether abuse was truly the cause of a child's injury.
-View illustrations that show first-hand examples of child abuse or neglect.
