This violent gesture causes serious brain damage which leads to death in one out of ten cases and three-quarters of the little survivors will keep serious consequences - such as intellectual, visual or motor deficiencies, as well as behavioral and speech disorders. or care.
To "warn about the reality of this mistreatment and its consequences" and "present preventive solutions", the campaign is centered on a chilling video spot which shows nothing but lets hear, through a "baby monitor", the voice of a exasperated father.
"I'm fed up, you're ruining my life, all you know how to do is cry!", yells the father, before the baby's crying suddenly stops.
Several hundred children are victims each year of this syndrome, with a peak incidence between two and four months.
The abusing adult is rarely shaken only once: shaken babies have been shaken on average ten times, according to data published in 2017 by the High Authority for Health (HAS).
"Jerkings are gestures of extreme violence that have nothing to do with a clumsy gesture of everyday life, nor with play, like throwing a child in the air", explains Dr Anne Laurent-Vannier who has chaired the working group devoted to this disorder within HAS.
Adults who lose patience with a baby should not hesitate to "share their fears and doubts" and "ask for help", insist the designers of this communication campaign - which will be available on YouTube, on the platforms of "replay" of major television channels and social networks.
If the adult is overwhelmed, he can always put the baby on his back and leave the room, because "there is no danger in leaving him alone in this position", underline the specialists.
The Secretary of State for Children and Families Adrien Taquet must go Monday morning to the Lille University Hospital to launch this campaign: he must visit a neurosurgery department and a maternity ward on this occasion, and talk to families. of victims.
© 2022 AFP