Every year the Child Accident Prevention Trust runs Child Safety Week (5th to 11th June 2017) to raise awareness of the risks of child accidents and how they can be prevented. But in case an unfortunate accident was to happen, would a parent know how to respond?
We often see worrying statistics in the media that show that an overwhelming majority of parents wouldn’t know what to do in case of an accident.
First Aid classes and practical workshops for parents might just be the perfect answer to this, and that’s why here at The Natal Family we offer accredited BabyNatal First Aid classes to parents and parents-to-be across the country. After all, providing crucial, life-saving skills to parents and parents-to-be fits perfectly well within our ethos of empowering parents with the knowledge and confidence they need.
So to try and help parents understand whether our classes could be for them, we’ve put together this post, which answers the most frequently asked questions about our classes.
Q. Should I attend this workshop on my own or with my partner?
Although we always say that the decision to attend one of our workshops (on your own or with your partner) has to be completely your choice and something that feels right for you and your family, we wholeheartedly encourage couples to attend together where possible. In fact, we would go as far as recommending that whoever might be in sole charge of your child at any given time should learn first aid techniques.
Plus, having first aid knowledge and skills could make the difference to someone else’s life too – one day you may be the person who’s able to offer help and support to a member of the public. Or help a parent with their child. What if you witnessed an accident or a fall, and the parents of the injured child didn’t know how to help? You may live your whole life not needing to use your first aid skills at all, but should the day come when your skills can make all the difference, you’ll be glad you did the training, with us or anyone else.
Q. Do you cover CPR for babies in your classes?
Yes! You’ll also learn how and why it’s important to check for breathing, and how to put a baby or a child in the recovery position to protect their airways if they’re unconscious but breathing. And in case the person was unconscious and not breathing, you’d know to perform CPR (or cardiovascular pulmonary resuscitation).
Frightening statistics show that the vast majority of parents wouldn’t give CPR to a baby because they’d be too scared to do it wrong or hurt the baby. You can watch a video on baby CPR from St John’s Ambulance that explains how to do it.
In our BabyNatal First Aid classes, we don’t just talk about CPR, we don’t just demonstrate it – we give parents a chance to try it and ask any questions they might have. We find that trying something for yourself doesn’t only help to cement your learning, but it also prompts you to ask questions you wouldn’t have otherwise thought of. So we’re confident that parents walk away from our classes feeling empowered with the knowledge and confidence that they would need, should the situation ever arise.
Q. I’m worried about choking – do you cover it?
Of course. At around 6 months of age, a lot of parents start to introduce solids into their children’s diet. Plus, babies around that age may also become mobile and can reach and grab small objects and put them in their mouth. This is why we recommend that you go through a process of babyproofing your house and keep an extra eye on things that might be within your baby’s reach, especially if you have older children as well.
With babies being naturally curious and willing to experiment new things, choking can become a real concern for parents when their babies reach these milestones. So we also explain and demonstrate what to do in case a piece of food or object was to become stuck and block a child’s airways.
Q. What else do you cover?
We also cover shock (a condition created by severe bleeding), burns, and meningitis. Whilst it’s crucial to know what to do and how to act while you wait for help in the above situations, we hope you’ll never need to use this knowledge. But temperature control is definitely something that you’ll need to be aware of. Most children will have at least a few episodes of raised temperature/fever in the first few months or year of life. So it’s important to know how to manage a temperature at home, as well as how to know when to contact your GP.
Some young children also have a tendency to suffer from febrile convulsions, which, although not dangerous in themselves, can be quite frightening to witness, and it’s important a parent knows how to handle their child, should they ever have one.
Q. When would you advise we take a BabyNatal First Aid class?
Our BabyNatal First Aid classes for babies are aimed at very young children (from newborn to approximately 1 year old), which is why a lot of parents take these antenatally before the baby is born. Although you don’t have to! We have plenty of parents who choose to take these classes when their children are only a few weeks old, and they’ll often bring their babies with them (which we love of course, as it means we get a cuddle!)
We also offer classes that give you the first aid skills and knowledge for older children (up to puberty), so if your baby is a bit older, we’d recommend you take the BabyNatal First Aid class for children.
If you want to find out about a BabyNatal class running near you, please contact us.
And should you wish to get in touch to train with us and become one of our BabyNatal teachers, contact us by emailing training@jackh121.sg-host.com.