In this article, we have a very important lesson to learn: CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It's a skill that every parent should have in their parenting toolbox because you never know when you might need it to save a life. I’m going to teach you how to perform CPR on a baby, which can be intimidating, but we’re going to take it slow and I’ll explain how it can be done completely safely.

So, what is CPR, and why is it so important? Let’s dive into this life-saving skill.

What is CPR?

CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is a medical technique used to save the lives of adults, children, and babies who have suffered respiratory or cardiac failure.

The primary purpose of CPR is to keep oxygenated blood flowing to the body's vital organs, especially the brain. When the heart and lungs stop working correctly, maintaining this blood flow—keeping the blood circulating—is vital.

Remember: If you're ever in doubt about a baby's breathing, it's best to assume they're not breathing properly and start CPR. Time is crucial when treating respiratory arrest, and quick action can make all the difference in saving a life.

Preparation for CPR for a baby

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

Let’s 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: 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 not 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 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 can I help a choking baby?

Choking is a life-threatening emergency. For infants, if you can see anything you can actually grab with your fingers, then remove anything you can from the mouth. Do not finger sweep or blindly put fingers in to try to find anything, as you may push the object further down.

Place the baby alongside your arm with the head down and give five back blows between the shoulder blades like this, watching to see if the object comes out. If not, turn the baby over.

If that doesn't work, try chest thrusts using two fingers. It is very similar to baby CPR, except you go up like this as well as pressing on the sternum. Give 5, again watching to see if the object dislodges. If it does and you can see it in the mouth, you can grab it, keep the baby head down, pinch the object with your fingers, or flick the object out. Do not finger sweep or blindly put fingers in to try to find anything, as you may push the object further down. You may push something into the airway.

After the first five backblows, call 999, ask for an ambulance, and tell them the baby is not breathing; the baby is choking. Ideally, someone else will do this or use a loudspeaker device.

If the object comes out, you must take the baby to the hospital, as there may be injuries or marks from the treatment. Part of the object may still be in the throat, or the throat may be swollen.

If it does not come out, the baby will become unconscious, and you must commence CPR.

So, now you’ve learned the essentials of CPR [and how to help a choking baby], as well as why these are vital skills for parents to have. Remember, you can make a difference in an emergency by being prepared and knowing what to do.

What do I do if my baby is unconscious (incl.CPR)?