Which First Aid Course Should New Parents Do?

Booking a first aid course is one of the more genuinely useful things to do before a baby arrives, and one of the easier things to keep postponing afterwards. Here is a short guide to picking the right one so you can get it booked.

The options

• HLTAID009 Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. About ninety minutes. Infant, child and adult CPR, choking response and defibrillator use.
• HLTAID011 Provide First Aid. About three hours. Contains the CPR unit and adds bleeding, burns, fractures, asthma, anaphylaxis and poisoning.
• HLTAID012 Provide First Aid in an Education and Care Setting. About three and a half hours. Contains everything above plus paediatric specific content including febrile convulsions and child focused asthma and anaphylaxis management.

Why most new parents choose the childcare unit

HLTAID012 is only about thirty minutes longer than the general first aid course, and the additional content is entirely paediatric. Febrile convulsions, infant choking and baby specific resuscitation are the situations new parents are most likely to face, and they are the parts of the syllabus given the most time in that unit. You do not need to work in childcare to enrol in it.

If you only have ninety minutes

Book the CPR unit. Infant CPR and choking response are the two skills where minutes genuinely decide the outcome, and having those alone puts you far ahead of no training at all. You can complete the fuller certificate later.

Bring the grandparents

Anyone who will regularly care for your baby benefits from the same training, and guidance has changed substantially over the past couple of decades. Families often book several people into the same session, which also means everyone is working from the same instructions.

How it works around a newborn

You complete a short theory component online in your own time, which can be done in fragments between feeds, then attend one practical session. Assessment is on the day and certificates are issued the same day. If travelling to a centre is difficult, the practical for Provide First Aid can also be completed live over Zoom, which you can read about on our Zoom sessions page.

Compare dates and locations or read our FAQ if you are still deciding.