Introduction

South Carolina State Law, Section 44-37-50 requires the South Carolina Department of Public Health or DPH (formerly DHEC) to approve the video to be utilized by a hospital for providing education on Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) to parents of newborns. If a hospital requests that DPH reviews a video, the steps below will be taken.

Review Process

1. The hospital will submit a copy of the desired video to ShakenBabySyndrome@dph.sc.gov
2. DPH will refer to the SBS Advisory group:
   • DPH Nurse Consultant (MCH Bureau)
   • DPH Medical Consultant (pediatric)
   • March of Dimes representative
   • DPH Public Outreach Director
3. The SBS Advisory group will review the video for content based on the criteria established by the Medical Advisory group at the time legislation was created (see criteria below)
4. The hospital will be notified of the decision within 10 business days of receipt of the video.
5. If the video is denied, the hospital can appeal the decision to the MCH Bureau Director.

Criteria for Video

• SBS must be properly defined.
• Signs and symptoms of SBS must be presented.
• There must be an explanation on normal "crying behavior" in infants.
• Prevention techniques must be outlined.
• The video must be culturally diverse in presentation, preferably representative of the population in South Carolina.
• The video must be offered in English and Spanish.
• The video must be designed to educate a wide variety of audiences.
• The video must be approximately 10 minutes or less in length.

Contacts

For questions, please contact ShakenBabySyndrome@dph.sc.gov or the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health at 803-898-0871.