56 marieclaire.com.auDAILY MAIL ONLINE 2005; THE GUARDIAN ONLINE JUNE 18, 2005. *PURPLECRYING.INFOBrant always insisted that she
hadn’t shaken the boy, but the
accusation had a devastating
impact on her life. “Society turned
against me, people I thought
were friends – gone,” Brant tells
marie claire. “Family members
didn’t speak to me. Facebook was
covered in hatred for me ... I just wanted to curl up in
a hole,” she recalls.
During her trial, a biomedical engineering expert
argued that it was more likely that the boy had fallen
from a playpen rather than been the victim of violent
shaking. Brant was found not guilty, but nine months
later she is still reeling from the experience. “The local
community were so against me that we were forced to
move to a new suburb. I’m now being treated for
post-traumatic stress disorder,” she explains.
While the report findings may offer hope for
others facing accusations of SBS, it is of little consolation
to Lorraine Harris. In 2008, Harris’ application for com-
pensation for victims of a miscarriage of justice was
denied as she did not fit the narrow criteria required for
a payout. Although her conviction was quashed, the
experience will always cast a dark shadow over her life.
While she has gone on to remarry and rebuild her
life, she still carries an inner anguish. “I’ve had very low
times, I’ve thought about suicide,” she confesses. “Most
of the time I try and put it all to the back of my mind.”
While Harris knows she can never be reunited with
baby Patrick, she still longs for Matthew, the son who
was taken away from her. “He’s 18 now and I’ve never
seen him. I hope one day soon he’ll come knocking on
my door,” she says.
“I hold on to that day – it’s the only thing that
keeps me going.”PURPLE CRYING
The Period of PURPLE Crying program was developed
in Canada to fight one of the main causes of Shaken Baby
Syndrome: parental frustration. It aims to educate parents
about the reality of newborn crying and the guidelines are
widely recognised around the world, including in Australia.*Above, from left:
Lorraine Harris was
wrongly jailed in 2000
for the manslaughter
of her baby Patrick;
shaking can cause
lifelong disability
or even death.Need support?
Chat to a maternal child health nurse or counsellor via the
national Pregnancy, Birth & Baby helpline: 1800 882 436Anxiety and depression affects up to 20 per cent of
new mothers. The PANDA helpline offers emotional
support and counselling: 1300 726 306PEAK OF CRYING
Your baby may cry more each week – the most
P in month two, then less in months three to five.UNEXPECTED
Crying can come and go with your baby,
U and you don’t know why.RESISTS SOOTHING
Your baby may not stop their crying,
R no matter what you try.PAIN-LIKE FACE
A crying baby may look like they’re
P in pain, even when they’re not.LONG LASTING
A baby’s crying can last as much as
L five hours a day, or more.EVENING
Your baby may cry more in the
E late afternoon and evening.INVESTIGATION