The State of North Carolina was recently named a leader in child abuse prevention and research for its work on The Period of PURPLE Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina. Dr. Desmond Runyan, a professor of social medicine and pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, accepted the award January 7th from Marilyn Barr of the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome. Runyan is one of the the principal investigators for the project through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Injury Prevention Research Center.

The Period of PURPLE Crying: Keeping Babies Safe in North Carolina is the country’s largest and most comprehensive statewide evidence-based shaken baby prevention initiative. The initiative is a five-year test of the program that teaches parents and other caregivers that early increased infant crying is normal but that it can become frustrating and lead to shaking. The program suggests ways to help parents comfort a crying baby and to cope with frustration. To date, more than 5,000 workers at 86 hospitals and birthing centers in North Carolina have been trained to teach parents about The Period of PURPLE Crying. To increase their impact, PURPLE project leaders are partnering with Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina, The North Carolina Partnership for Children and The Carolina Hurricanes.By the end of the study, more than a half-million parents of newborns will have received training about the PURPLE program. “We are humbled and honored to be recognized for our work,” says Runyan. “There is nothing more important than protecting children and saving lives.”