‘My son wouldn’t be here without baby CPR,’ says Northampton mother of three campaigning for everyone to learn

A Northampton mother of three says her son “would not be here” without her use of baby CPR when he was seven weeks old, and is campaigning for everyone to learn how to do it.

Dakota Tarry-Spencer, 23, is the mother of two-year-old Nevaeh and six-month-old twins Marley and Winnie.

In October 2022, Dakota set up a petition for the government to fund free access to baby CPR training during pregnancy for all mothers – which has now amassed nearly 9,000 signatures.

This was two months after Dakota’s son Marley stopped breathing and turned blue and floppy at seven weeks old, and she used the skills learned from her baby CPR training to save his life.

The mother of three from St Crispins said: “I never thought I’d use it but he wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know how to do it before the emergency services arrived.”

Dakota received training in baby CPR as all three of her children were premature and cared for in the Northampton Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Every mother who is discharged from a neonatal unit with a premature baby receives the training, but Dakota believes all mothers need it and she set up the petition to make that a reality.

Nevaeh was born at 35 weeks and spent 13 days in NICU, and twins Marley and Winnie were born at 32 weeks and spent 30 days there.

As a sign of appreciation for the unit and the care they gave to her children, Dakota is hosting a fundraising event on February 4.

From 2pm until 6pm at The Doddridge Centre, there will be stalls, food and drink, a bouncy castle and soft play – as well as baby CPR awareness and access to signing the government petition.

Dakota said: “All of them being taken from me straight away was horrible. I had c-sections so I wasn’t allowed to move for 12 hours to go and see them.

“NICU did an amazing job and this is the only way I can thank them. They are really grateful for the support and any way they can help, they will.”

To sign Dakota’s petition for every mother to receive baby CPR training, click here.