Understanding Baby Resuscitation and How to Do It

Health conditions or respiratory problems in some babies, may make it need help to be able to breathe. Can be characterized by a baby experiencing shortness of breath, looking breathless, until stopping breathing. In these circumstances the baby needs to be resuscitated. Infant resuscitation is a rescue procedure to save babies who have difficulty breathing due to lack of oxygen. Parents need to understand how to do baby's resuscitation, because this condition can occur at any time unexpectedly. This action can help save the life of your child, while waiting or seeking medical help.

Moments Required for Baby Resuscitation

Resuscitation is often done on newborns, especially when seeing signs of a baby having difficulty breathing after the umbilical cord is cut. If that happens, the medical team will immediately conduct resisutation until the baby can breathe properly. In addition to helping breathing, infant resuscitation can prevent death and health problems in infants, including brain, heart and kidney injuries. The conditions for babies who need resuscitation include:

• Premature baby.
• Babies born after childbirth with a long duration.
• Babies born to mothers who receive tranquilizers during the final stages of labor.
• Babies with low Apgar scores.

However, infant resisutation can also be done not only in newborns. Infants under one year of age also still have difficulty breathing. This condition can be affected by a variety of things, ranging from severe allergic reactions, choking, to injury. It is recommended that parents have knowledge about infant resuscitation, so that they can do first aid when the baby has difficulty breathing suddenly.

Steps taken during infant resuscitation

If at any time your baby has difficulty breathing, there are several steps you can take to resuscitate the baby, namely:

• Check the state of consciousness.

Make sure your baby is in a safe area. Clap slowly while talking to him, to see if he is aware. Then, check whether your baby has an injury, bleeding, or other medical problems.

• Check breathing.

In checking breathing, you can put your ears near your mouth and nose to determine whether there is breathing out or not. Look carefully at the mouth and nose for any obstruction in the airway. In addition, you can also check the baby's chest if there is movement or not.

• Start first aid

If your baby does not show any response, you are advised to seek immediate medical help, and if you can, do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as first aid. The following CPR in babies you can do:
• Make sure the head is in a straight line, then lift the baby's chin slightly.
• Inhale, then exhale air through the mouth, toward the baby's mouth and nose. If your mouth cannot cover both, choose your nose or mouth.
• Exhale about one second in the baby's mouth and nose. In the current conditions, it should be enough to make the baby's chest look up. See if the chest drops again when the air comes out.
• Look for signs of life in the baby, such as coughing, breathing responses, or obvious body movements.
• If signs of life arise, then continue breathing assistance, until the baby can breathe again normally, then position the body sideways, while taking him to the nearest hospital.
• If there are no signs of life, immediately start chest compression. Do this by pressing the lowest breastbone using a finger as deep as 4 cm, or about 1/3 the diameter of the chest, then release. Repeat with 100 pressures per minute.

Apply chest compressions 30 times, then intersperse with 2 breaths. Repeat until signs of life appear, or until medical help arrives. Although baby resuscitation can be done by anyone, but it is better if the baby has difficulty breathing, immediately take it to the doctor or emergency department at the nearest health center.