Pediatric CPR Guidelines Updated
Posted on:
December 4, 2025 | Doula
Pediatric CPR Guidelines were updated in October of 2025. The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released updated recommendations for pediatric and neonatal CPR and emergency care.
From the American Heart Association, updated pediatric CPR guidelines:
Infant & child choking (foreign-body airway obstruction, FBAO)
- For infants with severe choking: use alternating cycles of 5 back-blows followed by 5 chest thrusts (with the heel of one hand). Abdominal thrusts are no longer recommended for infants.
- For children with severe choking (conscious, responsive): use alternating 5 back-blows and 5 abdominal thrusts, repeated until the object is expelled or the child becomes unresponsive. This updates earlier guidance that called only for abdominal thrusts.
Infant CPR / chest compressions
- For infant CPR compressions: use either one-hand or two-thumbs–encircling-hands technique.
- If you cannot encircle the chest, use the heel of one hand for compressions.
- The older method of using two fingers along the sternum was removed because it does not reach effective compression depth.
Remember that infants are not small adults. These changes highlight the differences in physiology. Familiarize yourself with the correct technique for infants, including chest thrusts and hand or heel positions, rather than older methods.
Now is a good time for you as doula to update your own training and/or become re-certified in CPR.
Next steps for birth professionals actively working with families:
- Review the full 2025 guidelines documents (pediatric basic & advanced life support, neonatal resuscitation) from AHA / AAP.
- Watch demonstration videos that illustrate the newly updated choking and compression techniques. A video demonstration of this updated information can be found here.
- Update any first-aid / CPR teaching materials you use with clients to reflect new guidelines.
- Encourage new parents to practice and talk through choking and emergency response before babies are mobile / eating solid food.
