Infant CPR: Mum launches campaign following death of her 14-day-old baby

A woman from Derby who lost her baby boy when he was just 14 days old has featured in a new video highlighting the importance of knowing how to perform infant CPR – saying the lessons from it could have saved his life.Rachel Pepper’s son Rowan stopped breathing at their home in October 2022.Rowan died in hospital just days later from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (also known as cot death) – just two weeks after he was born.Rachel and her partner Christian have since started a campaign in his memory called “Rowan’s Rule”, which aims to raise awareness of how to perform infant CPR should anyone need it.The couple say they want to raise awareness both locally and nationally, so no parent has to go through what they had to.
“I sincerely hope you never have to use the information in this film”
The film, created by the University of Hospitals Derby and Burton NHS Trust, contains important step-by-step instructions on what to do should you see a baby not breathing or in urgent need of CPR.Rachel starts the film by saying: “The information you’re about to learn in this film could have saved my son’s life…I sincerely hope you never have to use the information in this film.”She added: “We are over the moon (the local hospital trust is implementing the film). I think it is the right thing to do. They will be showing it in antenatal rooms – they have shown fantastic support.
“We now want to get it out there to other hospital trusts so they can share the same message. There’s been interest. It’s had around 15,000 views in around a fortnight.“All we want is to tell people what to do. We are not saying it will save people’s lives but hopefully it will. Hopefully people will not have to use it.“I remember not knowing what to do (to help Rowan) and that will always stay with me. That is something we will never get away from. This film I hope will avoid that feeling of helplessness and not knowing what to do.”
The University Hospitals of Derby and Burton Trust (UHDB) say the video will be shared “with women, birthing people and families who access our services”.The Trust said that while many people know how to perform CPR on adults, “there is less awareness about CPR for infants and children”.
It added: “National guidance for post-natal care does not currently include offering basic training for infant CPR”.Dr Mary Montgomery, divisional medical director for women and children at UHDB, said:
“We are committed to listening to families and working closely with them, and are proud to be supporting Rowan’s Rule.“Rowan tragically died at home due to sudden infant death syndrome. When Rachel and Christian told us about their plans to share their experience and raise awareness and understanding of how to perform CPR for infants, we wanted to support them in this important initiative.“Rachel and Christian’s message that ‘knowledge is power’ and that it is better to know what to do and never need it is a really important one. Their story and Rowan’s Rule video are such valuable ways of sharing information and knowledge to others, and we will be sharing the video with families who use our services.”
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