Reducing the risks of Shaken Baby Syndrome;
Family Nurses adopt a visual and hands on approach with teenage parents
The Family Nurse Partnership works with first time mothers under the age of 20 to
help them have a healthy pregnancy and to understand how to care for themselves
and their baby. Family nurses are specially trained to offer a highly supportive home
visiting service for first time mothers to be, from early pregnancy until the baby
is two. The primary focus is the future health and wellbeing of the child and their
mother.
The family nurse will work with the parents to support them to create safe, nurturing
environments for their child. They will provide information and practical support on a
number of subjects including the child’s health and development, weaning and
nutrition, establishing routines, postnatal depression and family planning. One of the
areas the team highlights is the impact and risks of ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’; a very
real and tragic cause of injury and death in babies.
However with the right
information and approach the
risks can be reduced. Teen
parents in Bolton have
responded really well to the
‘shaken baby doll’ and the
important messages relayed
from within the NSPCC
‘Handle with Care’ information
guide.
By using the doll, parents can clearly see the
delicate structures of a baby’s brain and learn
how easily this can be seriously damaged from
inappropriate handling. They get the opportunity
to see and feel how movements that are not
necessarily forceful, can still cause a baby’s
brain to move and hit the inside of its skull.
Ways to support sensitive and appropriate
handling and soothing of babies are also shared,
and this is an area re-visited within the FNP
programme.
Family Nurses also link in helping the teen parents to deal with crying babies, stress
and other feelings of raised emotions. The simple but poignant messages within the
NCPCC ‘Keeping your Cool’ are also a very useful resource to support these
discussions.