Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina

This statewide effort to prevent traumatic brain injury among infants (Shaken Baby Syndrome), is supported by a five-year (2008-2012), $2 million grant from The Duke Endowment.

Insights

• Maternity centers at most hospitals did not have the authority to incorporate the PURPLE Crying program on their own. Adoption and implementation of the program required approval from the CEO or president at each hospital.
• Implementing this program successfully requires that the hospital designate a specific nurse unit (such as labor and delivery, post-partum or nursery staff) to take responsibility. When specific units were not designated, each unit assumed that another had delivered training. Some new parents were overlooked.
• The Center for Child and Family Health found that it is important to have more than one training option, so it developed an online module as an alternative to in-person training. While most nurses prefer to receive training in person, the online option has helped reach hospitals in remote locations.
• Technology can be a barrier to implementation. Thirty percent of participating hospitals did not have equipment to play the PURPLE Crying DVD for new parents. A portion of the initiative's funds were allocated to provide portable DVD players to those hospitals.
• The PURPLE Crying curriculum "sells itself" to participants. Easy to understand and non-threatening, it carries a universal message to which new parents and other caregivers can readily relate.
• Because this initiative is part of a national evaluation, the Center for Child and Family Health has paid special attention to data collection. Coordinator notebooks created by the Center have been effective tools for ensuring uniform program delivery and data collection among all hospitals. The Center also has adjusted its monthly data collection tactics to more accurately measure the number of parents trained.

Impact

The Period of PURPLE Crying program has scientifically proven its effectiveness in other parts of the country. The North Carolina Period of PURPLE Crying project is the largest and most comprehensive in the nation. Although still in its early stages, all of the 86 eligible hospitals in North Carolina — representing 99 percent of annual births in the state — have signed on to the program. Nearly all of those have completed training and are actively implementing the program, reaching the parents of more than 125,000 new babies each year.

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Vice President
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