'We don't want other parents to feel helpless'

A couple whose baby died at 14 days old have made a film to show other parents how to perform infant CPR.

Rachel and Christian Pepper, from Derby, said they did not know what to do when their son, Rowan, stopped breathing at their home in October 2022.

They have been campaigning for basic CPR to be shown across the UK as part of the discharge process after giving birth and have now collaborated with University Hospitals of Derby and Burton (UHDB) NHS Foundation Trust and Family Hub Derby to make an instructional CPR video.

Mrs Pepper said she hoped to prevent other people "having that feeling of panic and helplessness".

The three-minute video is a tribute to their son, whose cause of death was given as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and was filmed by lo&Behold Creative.

It includes a step-by-step guide on what to do if your baby stops breathing and features a midwife who demonstrates each step.

National guidance for post-natal care does not currently include offering basic training for infant CPR so Mr and Mrs Pepper set up 'Rowan's Rule' to try and change this.

Rachel said: "It's been 18 months since we launched the campaign and we have worked really hard with the director of midwifery at UHDB to get to this stage."

"So the Derby Family Hub have funded and produced a film for us which shows the basic CPR training so hopefully its accessible to everyone."

UHDB will be sharing the video with families who access its services.

Family Hub is run by Derby City Council and provides services such as antenatal care, advice and training for families and other support from pregnancy through to children starting school.

Fiona Colton, head of service for early help at Derby City Council said: "We met with the director of midwifery and they asked if we were prepared to do something with Rachel and Christian and it was a no-brainer really, it's really important."

"When we were first setting up the family hubs we did a lot of co-production with families around what it is that they wanted to see from us and one of the things that came up quite early on was around paediatric first aid."

Since Launching Rowan's rule, Mrs Pepper has given birth to their second son Caleb who is now five months old.

Mr Pepper said: "I’m really proud, she’s like Scrappy Doo, she's sending emails, shes calling people, she's hounding people, you’ve been pretty relentless but in a good way."

Mrs Pepper said: "We just want to prevent other people having that feeling of panic and helplessness, that's it."

"If you can save one baby and stop one set of parents feeling like we did then it's worked." Mr Pepper said.

"We’ve very much come to a peace, that we couldn't have saved Rowan that night, that maybe he was for better things and this is the better thing, this video will go on and and could save people." said Mrs Pepper.

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