Your Newborn - What To Do In An Emergency

Although rare, emergency situations can crop up in the first few weeks and months of life. It’s important that whatever happens, you stay calm – and immediately call for emergency medical assistance. In most cases, there are also steps you can take while you wait for help to arrive, write Margot Bertelsmann

- Margot Bertelsmann

CHOKING

“All kids are at risk of choking, especially if they’re under three years old,” says Dr Zakiyya Omarjee, a paediatrician at Netcare Blaauwberg Hospital in the Western Cape. “Young children tend to put things into their mouths and have smaller airways that can block easily.”

What choking looks like

The baby suddenly coughs or gags after eating or putting something in their mouth; they gasp or wheeze; they can’t cry out or make sounds; their lips turn bluish; they become limp or unconscious.

What you can do

Call for emergency medical help. While you wait, if the baby is conscious, lay them face down on your forearm, so their head is lower than their chest. Support the baby’s head in your palm, against your thigh, and use the heel of the other hand to give five back slaps between the baby’s shoulder blades. If the object doesn’t pop out, turn the baby face-up on your thigh, keeping their head lower than their body, place two or three fingers just below the nipple line on the baby’s breastbone, and give five quick chest thrusts. Keep giving five back slaps and five chest thrusts until the object comes out or the baby faints. If the baby faints, stop the back slaps and chest thrusts and start CPR.

What you mustn’t do

Don’t do the back slaps and chest thrusts unless you’re sure the baby is choking. If the baby faints, don’t try to reach into the mouth and get the object out as this may push the object further into the airway.

How to prevent choking

“Keep the area around your baby clear of small toys and household items like beads and deflated balloons, coins and batteries, as they’re easy to choke on,” Dr Omarjee says.