Seizures and Shaken Baby Syndrome

There were statistics, graphics and numerous handouts.

But the primary teaching tool that Royane Walker used to warn about shaken baby syndrome is her grand-daughter, an angelic-faced, wheel-bound 8-year-old girl named Madison.

“We'll never be sure what happened,” said Walker, who has legal guardianship of Madison. “My daughter was at work. Her father was frustrated and shook her. It only took three seconds. She was nine weeks old. She'll be nine weeks old for the rest of her life.”

Walker and another adult daughter, Maggie Kershaw, presented a 90-minute program on Monday to teacher Thomas Howe's class at the I Avenue Community Day School, a program for at-risk teens who don't fit into a typical high school environment.

“Stop it!” Kershaw said as she carried a special doll to demonstrate the dangers of SBS into the classroom. She quickly shook the doll several times, causing lights to illuminate inside the doll’s plastic head. “This is exactly what you don't want to do with a baby.”

According to Kershaw, such rapid, violent jerks of a baby's head can cause severe brain damage, even death. Typically, SBS causes paralysis, seizures and convulsions. A victim, such as Madison, can also lose her ability to suck or swallow and must be fed through a tube in her stomach. Many become blind or lose peripheral vision.

And many victims are male, perhaps because boys are frequently higher-strung than girls, prompting frustration by a parent. Statistically, most perpetrators are the baby's father, or the mother's boyfriend, she added.

“Take a deep breath,” Kershaw suggested to the future parents. “Count to 10. Read a good, inspirational poem or book, and always call for help. Remind yourself that the crying will end. You want to try everything you can think of.”

According to Howe, the one-time class will encourage students to become productive and helpful community members. Not only do some of Howe’s students have infant siblings at their homes, but two male students are expecting to become young fathers in a matter of months.

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