Choking in a Pregnant Person

You still treat a pregnant choking person, of course you do, but we just make a small change to the hand position we teach you on our first aid courses:

1. First of all ask them if they are choking with the question “Are you choking”. If YES …..

2. Then give Back Blows. Give up to 5 blows between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand.

3. If the pregnant person is still choking, give 5 chest thrusts (instead of abdominal thrusts which is what you’d do to a non pregnant person). Chest thrusts for a conscious adult are like abdominal thrusts, except for the placement of your hands. For chest thrusts, place your fist against the center of the person’s breastbone. Then grab your fist with your other hand and give quick thrusts into the chest.

4. If they are still choking repeat step 2 and 3 until the object becomes dislodged and they can breath normally. If they are still choking and lose consciousness call for emergency services (999) and start CPR. 

5. The pregnant person should be examined by their doctor or call 111 if ANY back slaps or chest thrusts have been undertaken.

Are pregnant Women more likely to choke?

Well as the pregnancy develops, things get moved around in the abdominal cavity. The baby’s taking up an increasing amount of room, so it’s pushing downward on the bladder and pushing upward on the stomach and the lungs. It also pushes up on the diaphragm, so the pregnant person can not take deep breaths as they could before the pregnancy. Compression of the stomach means they can’t eat as much, so eat more often, making pregnant people more likely to choke.

About Us

Rutland First Aid Training provides a full suite of first aid training tailored to your needs. We strongly recommend that everyone should have some basic first aid skills, so why not attend one of our CPR and AED courses.

Rutland First Aid Training provides this information for guidance and it is not in any way a substitute for medical advice. Rutland First Aid Training is not responsible or liable for any diagnosis made, or actions taken based on this information.