When we have a baby who we believe may not be breathing, we follow the algorithm DRABC. So we are performing a primary survey following Dr. ABC, but we need to make some modifications.

Let us go over these now.

D Danger

R Response: So a baby will not respond with: Yes, I can hear you!! But a baby may respond by crying, looking at you, or moving their body. The most important thing to remember is that you can use your voice to get a response or make a loud noise, like clapping your hands. If you do not get a response, pinch their earlobe or press hard on the sole of their feet.

If they do not respond, we need to move to A, which is for airway. We need to clear the airway.

This will be done differently than CPR on a child or adult. With a child or adult, we do a full chin tilt. For a baby, this is too high because the throat is soft and can twist if we over-flex the neck. So we need to bring the baby's head to neutral, then do a slight tilt from there with one finger to clear the airway.

B is for breathing. Now we can listen for breathing for 10 seconds, and again we are listening for normal breathing, which is in and out breaths. No breathing, or noisy, possibly high-pitched, irregular breath sounds, snoring, or grunting is normal.

At this point, if no one has called emergency services, have someone call 999 and ask for an ambulance, and tell them the baby is not breathing.

We need to begin C, or CPR. We begin with five rescue breaths. For a baby, you will need to open the airway with one or two fingers. Remember to find neutral and lift from there, but do not go to a full chin tilt.

Cover their mouth and nose with your mouth and give them a half-second breath, observing whether or not the chest rises or falls.

Then you need to give 30 chest compressions.

Find the centre of the chest, and use two fingers to press down on the chest so the chest goes in, again about a third of their body depth.

Now give two rescue breaths, repeating the cycle of 30 chest compressions with two rescue breaths until the emergency services arrive or the baby shows signs that they are breathing or that they are waking up.

How do I give a baby CPR?

Unii shares important CPR information for parents and caregivers of babies.