Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center’s labor and delivery, postpartum and nursery staff, are participating in the National Period of PURPLE Crying Awareness through the month of November.
The Period of PURPLE Crying was established to raise awareness regarding shaken baby syndrome. Shaken baby syndrome, or abusive head trauma, is most likely to occur from 2 weeks of age until about 3-4 months of age.
The letters in PURPLE stand for:
P, peak of crying; your baby may cry more each week — the most at 2 months, then less at 3-5 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 try;
P, pain-like face; a crying baby may look like they are in pain, even when they are 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 later afternoon and evening.
“Kentucky ranks as one of the worst states in the nation for child abuse and deaths due to non-accidental trauma,” says Vickie King, RNC, MSN, director of women’s health services at Ephraim McDowell. “Our goal is to increase awareness of shaken baby syndrome to all of our families during this time with the distribution of purple baby caps for every newborn and education for the parents.”
For additional information on shaken baby syndrome prevention, call the Ephraim McDowell nursery at (859) 239-2530.
