VIDEO – “Stop shaken baby”: a campaign to warn about this little-known abuse

“Every day in France, a baby is a victim of shaken baby syndrome. In 1 case out of 10, he will die. If he survives, he will have serious consequences.” Unveiled on Monday January 17, the “Stop shaken baby” campaign warns of the reality of “shaken baby syndrome”. The terrifying spot hints more than it shows. The image is fixed on a baby monitor, from which comes the voice of an exasperated father. “I’m fed up… You’re ruining my life! Do you think I really care? That you’re going to decide my life? All you know how to do is crying. I can’t take you anymore!”, he screams, before the baby’s crying suddenly stops.

Although only 24 seconds long, the video is blood-curdling. This is the objective of this awareness campaign, carried out on the initiative of the Secretary of State for Children and Families, which aims to inform about this abuse, also called “non-accidental head trauma” (TCNA ), the consequences of which are still too often unknown to the general public.

“Public health priority”, “shaken baby syndrome” affects several hundred children a year. It results when a baby is violently shaken by an adult. It is characterized by a high recidivism rate: the victims, mostly between the ages of 2 and 4 months, have been victimized on average ten times, according to data published in 2017 by the High Authority for Health (HAS). These jerks are most often produced when grasping the baby in the armpits or by the chest. His head rocks back and forth rapidly and his brain bangs against the walls of his skull. This violent gesture, committed voluntarily by parents, sometimes in denial of their act, represents “the most serious form of childhood traumatic brain injury“.

This abuse, which results in severe brain damage, can be “deadly” in 1 case out of 10. Three-quarters of the young survivors retain serious sequelae, which are manifested by intellectual, visual or motor deficiencies, as well as behavioral, eating, sleeping, speech or even attention. To fight against this non-isolated violence, which is difficult to detect and prevent, it is recommended to pay attention to certain more or less perceptible signs: contusions, bruises, hematomas, discomfort, malaise, embarrassment, psychological suffering…

“Jerkings are gestures of extreme violence, which have nothing to do with a clumsy gesture of everyday life or with play such as throwing a child in the air”, explains Dr Anne Laurent-Vannier, former head of the child rehabilitation center at Saint-Maurice hospitals (Val-de-Marne), who chaired the HAS working group on “shaken baby syndrome “. “Shaking is not playing, playing is not shaking”, she adds. “Play is necessary for the proper development of the child.”

“It is necessary to remember that crying is the only means of communication available to the child and also that keeping a baby is far from always easy. When you are tired or not very available, it is completely human to be exasperated. What not to do is shake the baby”, says the specialist. “If you feel in difficulty and if the urge to silence the child becomes too pressing, the priority is to move away from him, to put him on his back in his bed and to leave the room. The child it’s safe to cry in bed, it can be very risky to be in the arms of an exasperated adult.”

Once the baby is safe, adults who lose patience with their child should not hesitate to “share their fears and doubts” and “ask for help”, recalls Dr Anne Laurent-Vannier in this awareness campaign, available on YouTube, social networks and “replay” platforms. “We have to talk about it to find solutions and avoid the irreparable.”

There are two toll-free numbers to get in touch with early childhood professionals.

– An emergency number: the SNATED “Allo Enfance en danger” line, whose mission is to provide help and advice to callers faced with a situation of a child in danger or at risk of being so.

Reachable on 119, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

– A help and listening number: the “Allo Parents Bébé” line of the Enfance et Partage association, whose mission is to listen, support and guide parents from pregnancy to age 3 of the child.

Reachable on 0 800 00 34 56, Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.