Mum and nursery worker call for free first aid for parents after baby stops breathing
Two Shropshire friends have called for free first aid training for new parents.
Nursery worker Samuel Roberts from Wem and new mother Nicola Afflick have launched a petition.
Nicola, 36, was looking after baby son Ethan last month at the family home when he suddenly stopped breathing.
Her career as a nursery nurse meant she is trained in paediatric first aid and she managed to get him breathing again by doing specialist baby CPR.
She now wants to make sure other parents know how to react if it happens to them.
“I was so frightened - it was absolutely horrendous. I thought I had lost him because his eyes were closed and I saw the colour he was and how limp he had gone.If I hadn’t had my training I don’t know what would have happened.
"I took him out of his Moses basket and rubbed his tummy and chest."
Nicolas, who now lives in Sheffield, rang for an ambulance and Ethan was taken straight to Sheffield Children’s Hospital where she was told he had stopped breathing due to a brief resolved unexplained event - BRUE - which affects one in 200 babies under 12 months old.
The two friends are now campaigning for new parents to get free basic training so they can deal with emergencies.
"Friends I have talked to said they would have panicked. If parents were just given basic first aid training, CPR and things like burns and dealing with wounds it would help ensure they were confident in dealing with potentially life threatening situations regarding their babies and children.”
Sam said his friend had remained calm and had been able to use her first aid training.
"This only had a happy ending due to Nicola’s fast thinking and quick response, a response that many parents and carers would not be able to carry out. Nicola was able to respond the way that she did as she is Paediatric First Trained," he said.
"I feel that this is a course that all parents should be offered, free of charge, to ensure that they are confident in dealing with potentially life threatening situations regarding their own babies and children. Confident parents could also ease stress on NHS time and resources as they could deal with minor injuries themselves rather than using hospital A&E. "
