Viewers Stunned By 'Traumatizing' Demo Showing Shaken Baby Syndrome

Viral videos showed a demonstration with a baby doll that touched on the severity of shaken baby syndrome, which falls under the umbrella of abusive head trauma.

Posted by the TikTok account @brcp_hs2, the two videos, which may be distressing to viewers, were viewed more than seven million times in total.

Students were handed a crying baby doll and instructed to shake it to see just how hard it was necessary to cause shaken baby syndrome. The TikTok account warned viewers that they were watching a "traumatizing re-enactment."

"This was an educational point for students to understand cases they may experience in the workforce," @brcp_hs2 wrote in the comments section. "It gives them an idea of how this happened."

Dr. Mark Dias, a professor of neurosurgery and pediatrics and the vice-chair for neurosurgical education at Pennsylvania State University, told Newsweek that there is often evidence in cases involving abusive head trauma that the victim was struck against a surface.

"There are similar injuries if someone slammed a baby or child against a surface or an object as if they are shaken," he said.

The mortality rate is between 20 and 25 percent, while 60 percent of victims are left with severe neurological injuries, like paralysis, seizures and the inability to dress or feed themselves. Dias added that 80 percent of victims will experience cognitive consequences, like behavioral issues.

He said most cases involve babies less than12 months old, while the average age of a victim is 6 to 8 months old. There have been cases that involve children as old as 5 years old, but those are rare.

According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, babies have weak neck muscles that cannot support their heads.

"Severe shaking causes the baby's head to move violently back and forth, resulting in serious and sometimes fatal brain injury," the organization said. "These forces are exaggerated if the shaking is interrupted by the baby's head hitting a surface."

And, most of these cases involve parents who are overwhelmed. Dias said when a parent begins to feel overwhelmed or overcome by a crying baby, they should put them in a safe place and walk away to calm down.

"People need to understand no child died from being left alone in a crib," he said. "Parents should walk away and collect their emotions. It is never OK to shake a baby violently."

The first video showed one student who looked as though she was in disbelief as she shook the doll.

After a few seconds of rough shaking, the doll stopped crying.

"You really had to shake it," the student said.

The student featured in the second video appeared concerned as she also shook the baby doll until it stopped crying.

"When people do shaken baby stuff, that's how hard you have to shake a baby," the instructor said to the student. "I know; doesn't it break your heart?"

'Breaks My Heart'

Many viewers were also shocked to see what went into causing shaken baby syndrome.

"You can see her emotions this breaks my heart," a viewer wrote.

"I had to do this for my child development class and it was so sad," another TikTok user wrote.

"Every pregnant person and the expecting father should take a mandatory class like this before birth," a viewer opined.

One TikTok user said they needed to do the same demonstration with a doll in the hospital after having their son.

"I sobbed," they wrote.

Newsweek reached out to @brcp_hs2 for further comment.

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