Shaken Baby

[Title]

When reading a newspaper or magazine have you ever came across a story about a child who was a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome? Has that story ever made you cry? Some stories have been so sad it brings a tear to most people's eyes. Shaken Baby Syndrome and child neglect continue to be parts of a huge disturbing reality in the United States and across the world despite significant advances in the identification and treatment of child abuse. Health care professionals are still attempting to grasp the extent; of the physiological and psychological effect of child maltreatment and injury (Gutierrez, 123). Child abuse is preventable; we the people should help take part in preventing child abuse. Shaken Baby Syndrome also known as Abuse Head Trauma (SBS/ AHT) is likely the cause of child fatalities due to maltreatment in young children, and we should help prevent a child from experiencing abuse or neglect. What is Shaken Baby Syndrome you ask? It's when a child is severely shaken or slammed against a hard surface such as a wall or thrown down on the floor. When this happens the child's head rotates about the neck uncontrollably; this violent movement pinches the infant's brain back and forth within the skull sometimes rupturing the blood vessels. Throwing a child in the air or bouncing, or swinging or even jogging with a baby in a backpack do not result in brain injuries such as those seen with SBS/AHT (NCSBS). The act of SBS has been described as "so violent that individuals observing would recognize it as dangerous and likely to kill the child." The injuries are only as a result of violent trauma; they cannot be caused by short falls, seizures or as a consequence of vaccinations (Averill, 27). The consequences of being shaken can range widely from death to so mild the parents never sought medical attention. Mortality rates are 60% among infants who were initially examined when comatose (Averill, 27). As a preventative measure all health care workers should be assessing infant caregivers for stress levels, discipline practices, substance abuse, reactions to crying and knowledge of SBS. Most of the population is lacking in knowledge and some programs are teaching false information such as SBS can be caused by bouncing a child on a knee, throwing him or her in the air, or even rough play. SBS can victimize any child from any demographic. Males are more often perpetrators, although no gender or person should be ruled out. Among the 34 victims of identified perpetrators, six died. All of their accused abuser we're men.

There are various signs and symptoms of shaken baby syndrome. The consequences of less severe cases may not always be brought to the attention of medical professionals and possibility never diagnosed; that's when a child looks normal after shaking. They include convulsions, irritability, fixed pupils, seizures, sleepiness, breathing problems, vomiting, choking, swelling of head, pooling of blood in eyes, and head turned completely to one side. A CAT scan can show multiple brain injuries yet they develop disabilities in most severe cases, which usually become immediately unconscious and suffers rapidly escalating, life threatening central nervous system dysfunction any others injuries can lead to death. Also you see a decrease in muscle tone, extreme irritability, decreased appetite poor feeding, or vomiting and no smiling or vocalization skills.

SBS/AHT occurs in children ages three and under, but it can happen up to the age of five years of old. Statistics show that 68% of the perpetrators of SBS are male; more than 50% of the victims of SBS are male, 50% of offenders are natural parents 17% are non-relative caregivers, 17% are boyfriends of the mothers and 6% are step parents the average age of an offender is 22 years of age. 80% of the offenders have no previous history of child abuse, SBS accounts for an estimated 10%-12% of all deaths due to abuse and neglect in the US. It is projected that incidents of SBS/AHT will increase by 18% between 2010-2018 ( Lewin, 23). To protect this from happening to your child you can try and run backgrounds on each person; you can also have them take a learning class on how to handle a child who might cry a lot, so they don't get frustrated with them. This will help reduce these numbers above.

Washoe county police officers, social workers, doctors, and child advocates are alarmed because of a recent increase in the number of shaken baby cases. Although the anecdotal number of such cases is slightly below the national average in Washoe County, officials have seen an increase in the number of cases during the past six months, something that some speculate could be reaction to the recession were experiencing ( O'Malley,13).

According to Prevent Child Abuse Nevada, the lifetime costs for these victims are $4 million to $9 million, while the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome estimates it can cost as much as $15 million throughout each victim's life ( Haboush). Everyone has their breaking point; this is why everyone should be educated on SBS .Everyone should understand what happens when you commit this violent act. Approximately one shaken baby in four dies from an injury that is 25%. Most children that are severely shaken don't live past the age of three years old. In Washoe County there is at least one case reported every month caused by Shaken Baby Syndrome (Haboush).

A local Nevada resident adopted a young boy named Michael after his biological mother's boyfriend shook him violently to quiet his cries. While he was in a coma for two months his mother signed away her parental rights and the woman's boyfriend was sentenced to six months in jail for the violent act against Michael. His adopted mother reported for most of his life, Michael relied on a wheelchair, feeding tubes and 24 hour medical care; he has been in and out of hospitals. Each time doctors telling