The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) has announced a statewide plan to help prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), a term used to describe a collection of signs and symptoms resulting from the violent shaking or slamming of an infant or young child. SBS is by far the leading cause of young child homicides.

The acronym PURPLE is used to describe specific characteristics of an infant‚s crying and let parents and caregivers know that what they are experiencing is simply a phase in their child‚s development that will pass.

P -Peak of crying: Your baby may cry more each week; the most at 2 months, then less at 3 to 5 months.

U – Unexpected: Crying can come and go and you don‚t know why.

R – Resists soothing: Your baby may not stop crying no matter what you do.

P – Pain-like face: A crying baby may look like they‚re in pain, even though they‚re not.

L – Long lasting: Crying can last as much as five hours a day or more.

E – Evening: Your baby may cry more in the late afternoon and evening.

The curriculum is designed to teach parents that crying is normal and provide them with action steps they can follow when their infant cries, including:

Carry, comfort, walk and talk with your baby.

If it‚s too frustrating it is okay to walk away. Put the baby in a safe place and take a few minutes to calm yourself; then go back and check on the baby.

Never shake or hurt a baby ˆ call for help if you are still frustrated.

As part of the evidence-based PURPLE program, nurses provide education to parents prior to discharge from the hospital. Parents are sent home with a DVD and booklet to help them understand the serious nature of SBS, as well as techniques to prevent it.

Iowa’s Prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome Project is being utilized in 12 central Iowa counties: Carroll, Boone, Story, Audubon, Guthrie, Dallas, Polk, Jasper, Adair, Madison, Warren and Marion. Iowa is the fifth state in the nation to use this program as its statewide model.

The pilot project is the result of collaboration between IDPH, the Iowa Department of Management, Blank Children‚s Hospital, and Prevent Child Abuse Iowa.