SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME CAUSES BRAIN DAMAGE 11/18/06

A baby boy in New Zealand was shaken by his father and it caused two large black holes in his brain. Little Brodie Christopher Barry Te Waaka-Price suffered a loss of 25% of his brain. Because his parent shook him, he will not have an average life. He is most likely blind. He cannot hold his head up. He had to have excess fluid drained from his brain. There is evidence of two broken ribs and at least one other incident of shaking. Dad is in jail. Mom is supporting dad but hopes that New Zealanders will become more educated to shaken baby syndrome and the traumatic brain injuries and long-term consequences that can result from it.

Read more at: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3866261a11,00.html

A twenty year old father of a three month old baby in Massachusetts was arrested on October 20. The baby required evacuation of a large amount of blood from inside her head. She had other injuries...On October 13, a couple living in Rotterdam NY with their 3 children and 2 foster children brought their youngest to the emergency room. They have both been charged...On November 17, a mother was convicted of killing her baby girl. The baby had multiple skull fractures and various other injuries. Cause of death: traumatic brain injury [SBS]. Mother blamed the injuries on her three year old son. The little boy had told police that "Mommy did it."...26 year-old boyfriend in Michigan charged with shaking a baby to death...Baby boy in New York City dies...[For alternative explanations and stories of those who may have been wrongfully convicted of shaking a baby into serious traumatic brain injury or death, please goto: http://www.redflagsdaily.com/forum/shaken_baby_syndrome?from=10]

The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome at: http://www.dontshake.com/ gives us this chart on symptoms:

Common Symptoms of Shaken Baby Syndrome:

• Lethargy / decreased muscle tone
• Extreme irritability
• Decreased appetite, poor feeding or vomiting for no apparent reason
• Grab-type bruises on arms or chest are rare
• No smiling or vocalization
• Poor sucking or swallowing
• Rigidity or posturing
• Difficulty breathing
• Seizures
• Head or forehead appears larger than usual or soft-spot on head appears to be bulging
• Inability to lift head
• Inability of eyes to focus or track movement or unequal size of pupils

A parent or caregiver usually shakes a baby because they are angry over things like intense crying, feeding, and toilet-training. One incident of shaking can dictate a future for a baby that includes long-term consequences or death. The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome site has more information, testimonials, and resources.

http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/medical/brain/shaken.html
says that: "Approximately 60% of shaken babies are male, and children of families who live at or below the poverty level are at an increased risk for SBS as well as any type of child abuse. And it's estimated that the perpetrators in 65% to 90% of cases are males - usually either the baby's father or the mother's boyfriend, often someone in his early 20s."

Other studies found on a Medscape.com search engine reported precipitating factors such as active addiction in a parent or caregiver [including live-in significant others], legal problems, and loss of jobs. One characterological trait that was common to the perpetrators was lack of impulse control. At-risk families included those who display rigidity in thinking, unrealistic expectations of events or behaviors that an infant or child can control, a history of a parent having been abused as a child, and depression or low self-esteem present in a parent. Babies who were born prematurely or who were identified as already having a disabling condition were also statistically at higher risk.

Shaken Baby Syndrome can be prevented and education of parents and caregivers does help. This education may take the form of educational videos, educational pamphlets, drop-in family centers in high-risk areas, home visits, and information offered by physicians. Websites dealing with Shaken Baby Syndrome drive home the message: Never shake a baby or a child. They also offer variations of the 5 S-s to deal with crying after checking the general condition of the baby:
swattling
side-to-stomach positioning
sucking
swinnging
SHHHHHing

And if all else fails, get help. There are far too many of us in the tbi club already.

sapphoq healing tbi

http://www.biausa.org/Pages/related%20articles/article.sbs.facts.realities.html
http://www.wcpcan.wa.gov/temp_SBS.asp
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/410541
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/515880
http://www.sbscentralmass.com/
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/514376
http://www.ounce.org/shakenbaby/preventshakenbaby.html
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/
base/news-19/1163847995252120.xml&coll=3
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=4698457
http://www.thedailyitemoflynn.com/news/view.bg?articleid=13728
http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/your_news/capital_region/default.asp?ArID=197980
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/
bal-md.ar.douglas18nov18,0,6322832.story?coll=bal-local-arundel