Aiken Standard: New law will save S.C. babies
Filed Under Caucus
A state law that had its roots in Aiken may well save the lives of some infants in South Carolina.
The law that took effect on Tuesday requires hospitals to show the mothers of newborn children a video about Shaken Baby Syndrome before the children can go home. Shaken Baby Syndrome refers to the effects on the brain of an infant when it is severely shaken. Such shaking can cause severe and permanent brain damage. In some cases death results.
The new video was first shown at Aiken Regional Medical Centers on Jan. 1 with the mother of the county’s first child of 2008. The eight-minute video alerts mothers to the impact on the child if it is shaken.
The legislation was passed last year following its introduction by Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken. The local senator had been contacted by Heather Yeh, an Aiken woman who is president of the S.C. Medical Association Alliance. It had chosen Shaken Baby Syndrome as the focus of its annual health initiative for the year.
This legislation will let parents know how to handle a crying child and what to do to avoid those desperate moments when a parent feels he or she can’t take any more of a crying child. This legislation will ensure that a generation of South Carolina children will have the benefit of parents who have been informed about the Shake Baby Syndrome and the ill effects it can have.
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