New research has shown two thirds of parents in the south east would not know how to give their baby CPR in a life-saving situation.

St John Ambulance is now urging High Wycombe parents to sign-up to a baby first aid course after a survey of 2,000 parents revealed only 32 per cent would know what to do if their baby stopped breathing.

The course, which covers key first aid emergencies for babies and toddlers as well as how to give CPR, takes place from 9.30am to 12.30pm on March 26 at the St John Ambulance training venue on Harlow Road.

It costs £30 and will last around three hours.

Research conducted by OnePoll in December 2015 found nearly two-thirds of parents said they had learnt first aid – most from a workplace course – but only one in three knew how to treat babies.

CPR for babies is different from adult CPR, in that only two fingers should be used to give pumps to the baby’s chest and its nose and mouth must be covered by the rescuer’s mouth to give life saving puffs.

Last year, St John Ambulance ran an award-winning campaign, The Chokeables, to teach parents how to save a child from choking, which led directly to the saving of 46 children.

Sue Killen, CEO at St John Ambulance, said: “The Chokeables was a real step forward for us and the response was amazing.

"We’ve listened to parents and we know that they want to learn first aid skills in a way that’s easy and memorable. That’s what inspired the creation of Nursery Rhymes Inc."

Nursery Rhymes Inc is a new video starring nursery rhyme characters which demonstrates how to give CPR to a baby that is unconscious and not breathing.

"We know that a major barrier to parents learning is that baby CPR frightens them, so we’ve removed the fear factor and made it as reassuring as possible by making this new video and putting on a set of courses.

"As well as learning the technique themselves, we’re asking everyone to share the video so that all parents, grandparents and carers know what to do in those crucial minutes after a baby has stopped breathing."

Video from St.John's Ambulance

To to book a place on the course visit www.sja.org.uk/NurseryRhymesInc or call 0303 003 0101.

St John Ambulance also runs three-hour Emergency First Aid All Ages courses throughout the year, which include baby first aid.