The provincial government is educating new parents about normal infant crying patterns to prevent the incidence of abusive head trauma in newborns, says Minister of Health and Wellness Doug Currie.
Beginning today, parents of newborns in Prince Edward Island will receive free educational resources to help them understand and cope with crying before they are discharged from the hospital.
“Being a new parent can be hard and even harder when your baby is crying and you do not know what to do,” said Minister Currie. “The Period of PURPLE Crying will help parents and caregivers learn that crying is very normal during the first few months and it teaches them how to cope.”
Prince Edward Island is only the second province to implement the Period of PURPLE Crying program province-wide. The Department of Health and Wellness has funded the program through the Chief Public Health Office’s Reproductive Care Program.
“The Period of PURPLE Crying is a preventative program designed to educate new caregivers about the normal patterns of infant crying, to anticipate this behaviour and to safely respond to a crying infant,” said Reproductive Care Coordinator, Hara Kempton. “The education and prevention program will give new parents resources and information to better understand inconsolable crying in infants and help lower the incidence of abusive head traumas.”
Parents of newborns will receive an information booklet and 10-minute DVD during their stay at the maternity ward which they get to keep. Nurses will then discuss the program and answer any questions that may arise. Health PEI’s Public Health Nursing will also review the program with new parents during follow-up visits and provide another opportunity to discuss and respond to questions. Community Services and Senior’s Child Protection staff will also be reinforcing the program with families.
“Protecting children is a civic responsibility. This initiative is a wonderful example of community and government working together to support parents and caregivers to learn about inconsolable infant crying and how to cope so that infants are not harmed,” said Community Services and Seniors Minister, Valerie Docherty.
For more information on the Period of PURPLE Crying, please visit www.gov.pe.ca/health/purplecrying.