Often babies need help with breathing. There are many reasons for this. It may be because they are immature, have an infection, have under-developed lungs or have inhaled something - for example meconium.

A ventilator helps a baby breathe. It works in 3 ways:

• using a pre-set pressure, it can inflate the lungs;
• when babies don't breathe sufficiently for themselves, it can give extra breaths and
• when required it can supply extra oxygen.

There are many different ways of ventilating your baby -