CPR Class for New Parents in Indianapolis: What to Learn Before the Baby Comes and How a CPR Party Works

Most new parents in Indianapolis think about infant CPR the same way: they mean to learn it, the baby arrives, and the class never happens. The parents who actually learn it are the ones who put it on the calendar before the due date, usually alongside the car seat check and the hospital tour. Tiny Hearts CPR teaches that class in your home, as a CPR party for up to ten people, so the grandparents, the aunt who will babysit and the neighbor who offered to help learn it at the same time. This is what a CPR class for new parents covers and how to plan one.

What the class covers

A Tiny Hearts CPR party follows the American Heart Association Friends and Family curriculum, which is built for exactly this audience: family members and caregivers who want to know what to do, not healthcare professionals who need a certification. The class covers infant CPR, child CPR for when the baby grows, choking response for an infant and a child, and when and how to call 911. Every guest practices on an infant manikin until the compressions and the breaths feel automatic. Pam, the instructor, has taught this class to hundreds of Indianapolis families and knows the questions new parents ask before they ask them.

Why before the due date

Once the baby is home, the class competes with sleep, and it loses. Booking the party for the last month or two of pregnancy means the skills are fresh when the baby arrives and everyone who will care for the newborn has practiced together. Some families book it for the baby shower weekend, when the grandparents are already in town; some book it as its own evening with dinner afterward. https://tinyheartscpr.org/resources/baby-cpr-class-in-carmel-in-planning-a-cpr-party-before-the-due-date-1789399747464/ walks through the timing in more detail for families in Carmel, and the same plan works across Indianapolis.

How a CPR party works

Pam comes to your home in Indianapolis, Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Westfield or the surrounding area with the manikins and everything else the class needs. The party runs about two hours. Up to ten guests take part; couples, grandparents, siblings and future babysitters are all welcome. The class is hands on from the start, and there is time for questions specific to your family, a baby with reflux, a home with stairs, a grandparent who has not done CPR in decades. It is a non certified course, which is the right fit for parents and caregivers; healthcare workers and teachers who need a card book the Heartsaver or BLS classes instead.

Choking is the emergency parents are most likely to face

Parents worry about CPR, and they should learn it, but the emergency a family is more likely to meet in the first two years is choking. The class spends real time on it: how to recognize choking in an infant versus a child, the back blows and chest thrusts for an infant, the abdominal thrusts for a child, and what to do if the baby becomes unresponsive. https://tinyheartscpr.org/resources/infant-cpr-class-fishers-in-what-new-parents-learn-in-a-two-hour-cpr-party/ covers the choking portion for families in Fishers.

What changes after the class

Parents who have taken the class describe the same change: the house gets quieter. Not because anything is different about the baby, but because the adults in it have practiced what they would do and stopped rehearsing the worst case in their heads at three in the morning. A grandparent who has done the compressions on a manikin is a grandparent who says yes to babysitting. A babysitter who has practiced the choking response is one you can leave without a list of instructions taped to the refrigerator. The skills are the point, and the calm that comes with them is the part families mention when they book the class again for the next baby.

Planning the party

Pick a date in the last two months before the due date, choose the ten people most likely to be alone with the baby, and clear a living room floor for the manikins. Tiny Hearts CPR brings everything else. Evenings and weekends are the most common bookings, and families in Hamilton County often pair the class with a meal afterward. Book early in the third trimester, because the weeks right before a due date fill first and babies do not always keep to the calendar.

Adding a first aid segment

Families who want more can add a first aid segment to the party: burns, falls, cuts, fevers, allergic reactions and the other things that send parents to urgent care at two in the morning. It extends the class and gives caregivers a plan for the everyday emergencies alongside the rare ones.

Grandparents and refreshers

Grandparents are often the people who most want the class and least often get it. Infant CPR guidance has changed over the years, and a grandparent who learned it thirty years ago benefits from a refresher as much as a first time parent benefits from the basics. A CPR party with both generations in the room is the most common booking Tiny Hearts CPR takes in Hamilton County.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a certification class? No. The CPR party uses the AHA Friends and Family curriculum and is non certified. Certification classes, Heartsaver and BLS, are offered separately.

How many people can attend? Up to ten guests in your home.

How long is the class? About two hours, longer with the first aid add on.

Where do you teach? In homes across Indianapolis, Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Westfield and the surrounding area.

Expecting a baby? Book a CPR party with Tiny Hearts CPR before the due date.