How confident are parents at performing life-saving baby first aid?

For the purposes of our survey, a baby is ‘1 year old or under’. The questions referred to how confident parents are knowing what to do before an ambulance arrives, when they are on their own.

  • Almost 50% of parents aren’t confident they can perform baby CPR (48%). Only 1 in 10 are very confident they know how to perform baby CPR (10%).
  • 69% aren’t confident they can perform first aid when a baby is unconscious.
  • Over half (53%) aren’t confident they can give first aid when a baby has a head injury.
  • 68% aren’t confident they know first aid for when a baby has swallowed a toxic substance.
  • However, parents were more confident performing first aid when a baby is choking. 71% of parents are quite or very confident they can perform first aid when a baby is choking.
  • Similarly, 60% are confident they know how to give first aid when a baby has burns.
  • Over 1 in 4 parents (28%) would never leave their baby with someone who wasn’t confident in baby first aid.
  • 1 in 4 (24%) would leave their baby with someone who wasn’t confident performing baby first aid, but they wouldn’t feel comfortable doing so.

Saving your baby or someone else’s baby can be as simple as taking a first aid course or even watching a Youtube video.

With survey results showing a shocking amount of parents are not confident they can perform life-saving first aid on their baby, Numed Healthcare have launched a campaign to educate parents on what they need to do before the ambulance arrives, in a range of emergencies:

  • Your baby is unresponsive/unconscious and not breathing
  • Your baby is unresponsive/unconscious but breathing normally
  • Your baby has a head injury
  • Your baby has swallowed a toxic substance
  • Your baby is choking
  • Your baby has burns

When your baby is unresponsive and not breathing

If your baby is unresponsive and they are not breathing normally, call 999 for emergency help and start giving baby CPR to help keep them alive until an ambulance arrives. Here’s how to do it:

Baby CPR:

When your baby is unresponsive but breathing normally

If your baby is unresponsive but they are breathing normally, call 999 for emergency help and hold the baby in the recovery position. Here’s what to do:

Recovery position:

When your baby has a head injury

If your baby hits their head when they begin crawling around, here’s what to look for and then what to do:

When your baby has swallowed a toxic substance

If your baby has come into contact with or swallowed a toxic substance, here are the poisoning symptoms and what to do:

When your baby is choking

Your baby could be choking if you notice the following; they’re suddenly distressed, noisy breathing, not able to cry or cough. Sometimes they won’t be able to breathe or make any noise. Here’s what to do:

When your baby has burns

Here’s how to treat your baby if they have a burn or scald:

Video Credit: St John Ambulance. Thanks for such comprehensive baby first aid videos.

Your Essential Baby First Aid Kit

Here are some build-your-own baby first aid kit items you might want to consider including.

Don’t forget to keep it in a locked cupboard, and out of the reach of any children.

Where to buy


Before using, please follow the instructions on each of these individual products to check they are safe to use on your baby or child.