Shaken baby syndrome is an all too common condition. Shaken baby syndrome occurs when, due to shaking, a baby’s brain will actually bounce or rebound against his or her skull. The impact of the brain rebounding against the skull can cause some horrible things, including bleeding, swelling, and bruising of the brain. Bleeding, swelling and bruising of the brain can lead to severe and permanent brain damage, and, in some cases, it can even lead to death. In fact, right around fifty percent of babies that experience shaken baby syndrome will die due to their injuries.
Many different injuries can occur from shaken baby syndrome. These might include things like developmental delays, mental retardation, learning disabilities, problems with speech, a loss of hearing, blindness, deafness, paralysis, impaired use of arms or legs, and spinal injury.
It is important to watch for signs if you think your baby may be a victim of shaken baby syndrome. The signs of shaken baby syndrome resemble the signs of other sorts of head trauma. they can include things like irritability, a dramatic change of behavior, loss of consciousness, lethargy, vomiting, convulsions, and even a change in skin color to a pale or bluish color. Generally speaking, there are not going to be many visible outward signs of shaken baby syndrome, so you have to be aware of the other sorts of signs.
Generally speaking, shaken baby syndrome is not caused by accident. Almost always, shaken baby syndrome is caused by an adult in the child’s life. Sadly, it is often the baby’s mother or the baby’s father that is responsible for the shaking that leads to shaken baby syndrome. In some cases, shaken baby syndrome may occur when a baby has colic. While the colic doesn’t, obviously, cause the shaken baby syndrome, colic can often lead to a loss of control by parents, which then can lead to shaken baby syndrome.
If you believe that your baby may have been shaken, it is important to contact a health care provider, or preferably go to an emergency room. Rapid treatment of shaken baby syndrome may help to lessen the amount of damage, or even to prevent death.