Natasha Jones, the founder of Baby Resuscitation, sat down with Tess Daley for Being Mum to talk about the horrifying moment she had to perform CPR on her 11-week-old daughter.
Explaining that her young son had told her that baby Ava-Mai was ‘blowing bubbles’, she recalled: "I thought it was unusual for a baby of her age to be doing that so I went to check.
"As I got closer to the cot I could see that she was very blue and as I picked her up she was floppy like rag doll, I thought I had already lost her."
Natasha continued: "I started doing what I thought was CPR and got one of my sons to go get their dad and say we need an ambulance.
"Then I gave her mouth-to-mouth, pressing her chest and stuff. It seemed to work."
Ava-Mai thankfully survived, despite the 36 minute wait for the ambulance, and it inspired her mother to train in hospital on how to resuscitate a child in case it happened again.
But, after a flurry of phone calls from friends and family, all of whom were desperate to learn how to perform CPR on babies too, Natasha decided to set up the Baby Resuscitation http://babyresuscitation.co.uk/.
The not-for-profit organisation runs training courses for parents to teach them how to resuscitate their children.
She said: “Our courses offer training from newborn through to preteens and we cover both resuscitation and choking.
"We ask for £10 per person to attend the course which contributes to venue hire, publicity and resuscitation officer fees, but if a person cannot afford this then we will cover their costs either personally ourselves, through sponsorship or private donations."
How to perform CPR on a baby:
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Check the area for safety
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Determine whether or not the baby is conscious
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Have someone call 999
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Clear the baby’s airway: To do this, place your hand on the baby’s forehead, place your finger on the baby’s chin, and life the jaw upwards
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Give five rescue breaths: To do this, press your mouth over the baby’s mouth and nose and breathing in until you see the baby’s chest rise
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Give 30 chest compressions: To do this press two fingers onto the centre of the chest, press down to about 1/3 of the depth, all to the beat of Staying Alive by The Bee-Gees.
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Give two more rescue breaths
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Give 30 more chest compressions
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Continue until help arrives, or until the baby starts breathing
To find out more, or to book yourself onto a course, check out the Baby Resuscitation website now.