Okaz/Saudi Gazette

RIYADH — Local studies revealed that a quarter of the children, who were exposed to shaken baby syndrome, had a premature death. According to the studies, those who survived, had to suffer from mental, sensory, and motor disabilities as a result of their exposure to the syndrome.

Shaken baby syndrome is a type of brain injury that happens when a baby or young child is shaken violently. When this happens, the brain can bounce back and forth against the skull which can cause bleeding, bruising, and swelling. It is a serious form of abuse inflicted upon a child. The syndrome usually occurs when a parent or other caregiver shakes a baby out of anger or frustration, often because the baby will not stop crying.

Speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette, a source at the National Family Safety Program explained that this syndrome happens after shaking the infant forcefully, and repeatedly and for a long time, which leads to bruises, broken ribs, and bleeding in the skull and inside the eyes. It also causes many health problems, including motor disability, epilepsy, blindness, and death in some cases.

The source attributed the syndrome to the young age of the parents, the constant crying of the child without knowing the reasons, and the parents’ ignorance of the danger of shaking the infant repeatedly, in addition to the psychological pressures of the parents that lead to nervousness and not accepting the crying child.

Local studies showed several symptoms of shaken baby syndrome, including repeated vomiting, continuous crying, weakness or loss of vision, convulsions, loss of consciousness, nausea in infants, refusal to breastfeed, and loss of appetite.

The National Family Safety Program called on mothers and families to contact the child support line 116111 for more information about preventing this syndrome.