Never Shake a Baby Arizona
Prevent Child Abuse Arizona
received $50,000 through the Child Abuse Prevention
License Plate Program – a partnership between The Arizona
Republic and the Governor’s Office for Children, Youth
& Families. The award will assist in funding the “Never Shake A Baby” program to educate families that infants are fragile and need to be held properly and never shaken. |  Rebecca Ruffner, Executive Director, Prevent Child Abuse Arizona, Governor Janet Napolitano, Patrice Herberholz, Coordinator, Never Shake A Baby Arizona, and Trisha Stuart Child Abuse Prevention License Plate Program Administrator, The Arizona Republic |
Every hour, one child in Arizona is abused or neglected. 24 hours a day.
Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is a severe form of child maltreatment. One third of young children who are shaken violently will die. Shaken Baby Syndrome is 100% preventable!
Never Shake a Baby Arizona (NSBAz) is an evidence-based program that is aimed at providing parents information and skills to prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome.
NSBAz, a project of Prevent Child Abuse Arizona, is currently funded by a Child Abuse Prevention License Plate Grant. Our goal is to eliminate Shaken Baby Syndrome. NSBAz will be available throughout the state to all parents who have just given birth. In 2006, 96,000 births are anticipated in Arizona.
NSBAZ is currently being implemented at University Medical Center in Tucson and Flagstaff Medical Center. Nurses in other hospitals will be trained in the coming months.
The NSBAz program is offered by the nurse to new parents just prior to discharge with their newborn. Parents who voluntarily participate are given a tip sheet on how to handle a crying infant; they watch a video on Shaken Baby Syndrome; and they are asked to sign a “commitment form” that states that they were educated on the dangers of shaking babies and that they will make a Plan to handle their crying child and inform all who take care of their child about their Plan and about SBS.
During the program’s pilot stage, parents were asked to participate in a follow-up survey. Of those in the sample of parents who were called, 96% remembered the program and nearly 90% said they had shared the information they had learned with other caregivers for their child.
The Evaluation Report of the pilot project was done by LeCroy and Milligan. (click here for report)
Read: Boston GLobe OpEd of 10/18/2006