Our Infant CPR Anytime® program helps parents build confidence to take their premature babies home.  By the end of June, some 230 families will be trained in the life-saving technique at Kapio’lani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu, HI.

It is made possible through a generous gift by Stanford & Carr and RMY Construction. Infant CPR Anytime® requires parents to be trained in CPR before a baby is discharged and includes an open door policy allowing family members to also participate. 

Pictured at left is Emily Vanderhoop, who received training following the birth of her son, Hao. She notes, “I was so grateful to receive the Infant CPR learning kit and pass it on to the other members of my son’s family. I will feel so much more comfortable leaving him with them, knowing that they have been educated in infant CPR.”

Nurses in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit love the program since it provides consistency in CPR training. They assist parents in practicing the technique on an infant manikin included in the kit for as long as needed prior to discharge. Parents keep the Infant CPR kits so they can continue to practice at home and train anyone who will be around their baby.

More than 10,000 children are born daily in the United States. One out of 100 babies will be born with a congenital heart defect.   Many experts in the field of infant cardiology note the value of Infant CPR extends to infants with “pulmonary and other non-cardiac problems” since choking, infection, seizures, drowning, smothering or trauma could also require CPR.