Healthy Start Invests in Shaken Baby Simulators to Educate Parents

The Healthy Start Coalition of Okaloosa and Walton Counties has invested in six Shaken Baby Simulators and have donated them to community partners who will provide preventative education on the dangers of shaking a baby. The recipients will use the simulators and correlating curriculum to educate new parents and caregivers on how to properly cope with a crying baby by depicting how an infant’s brain is affected by just a few seconds of shaking. It is the Healthy Start Coalition’s goal that through these partnerships, instances of shaken baby syndrome and cases of severe and fatal head trauma in infants of Okaloosa and Walton counties will be greatly reduced.
According to the Center for Disease Control, nearly all victims of shaken baby syndrome suffer serious, long-term health consequences such as problems with vision, developmental delays, physical disabilities and hearing loss. At least one in every four babies who experience shaken baby syndrome dies.
Healthy Start is a non-profit organization that works to ensure that all babies born in Okaloosa and Walton Counties get a healthy start in life. For more information, please call (850) 833-9284.
The best place to start is at the very beginning!