Each year, thousands of babies are born outside the hospital setting, sometimes by choice, sometimes unexpectedly. In 2023, over 10,000 births occurred at home in England and Wales alone. For healthcare professionals working in these environments, supporting a newborn who needs resuscitation can be a rare but critical event.
OH-NLS was developed in direct response to a clearly identified training gap. National bodies, including the Maternity and Neonatal Safety Improvement Programme (MNSI), have highlighted the need for improved and standardised training for those attending births in out-of-hospital settings.
Whether attending a planned homebirth or responding to an unplanned delivery in the community, OH-NLS provides structured, evidence-based training to equip clinicians with the skills needed to support the transition to extrauterine life and initiate newborn resuscitation when required.
Launched in 2025, OH-NLS focuses on the practical realities of delivering newborn life support in out-of-hospital environments. Course content includes:
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Recognition of babies requiring support at birth.
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Effective thermal control strategies in low-resource environments.
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Airway management and ventilation techniques using pre-hospital equipment.
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Coordination and communication in flash teams.
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Preparation and decision-making for safe neonatal transport.
Content is delivered through a mix of lectures, practical skill stations, and realistic simulations that mirror the challenges encountered in non-hospital births.
Who is the course for?
OH-NLS is designed for professionals who are likely to be present at births outside hospital settings, including:
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Ambulance clinicians and HEMS teams.
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Homebirth and community midwives, including those in continuity of care models.
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Midwives working in standalone midwifery-led units (MLUs).
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Clinical educators who support the training of pre-hospital and community maternity teams in newborn care.
All applicants must hold a professional healthcare qualification or be in training for a professional healthcare qualification.
The OH-NLS course is suitable for both first-time candidates and those seeking to renew their OH-NLS certification.
Proven impact
OH-NLS is already demonstrating measurable improvements in newborn care across the UK. In Wales, ambulance services have updated their standard kit to include equipment that better supports thermal control for newborns, in response to learning from OH-NLS. As a result, rates of normothermia on hospital admission have significantly improved.
Feedback from candidates has shown increased confidence and competence in responding to newborn emergencies, with several reporting successful application of course learning in real-world clinical scenarios.
This is a one-day course and will take place in Resuscitation Council UK approved OH-NLS course centres. There are currently only a limited number of OH-NLS course centres throughout the UK.
We use our evidence-based guidelines and cutting-edge research to create our courses. Courses are then delivered by members of our dedicated and highly skilled instructor base. This guarantees that our courses are uniform, and the content remains the same across all our course centres.
Pre-course preparation:
Candidates receive a course manual, which includes the core NLS content supplemented with specific OH-NLS materials, one month before the start of the course. Candidates should prepare for the course by reading the manual and completing the online pre-course MCQ (multiple-choice question) paper.
Programme:
This course consists of lectures, practical skills stations and teaching simulations.
Assessment and certification:
OH-NLS is assessed based on the completion of an MCQ paper and an airway test that will allow candidates to demonstrate the core skills in airway management that are covered on the course.
Successful candidates receive a Resuscitation Council UK OH-NLS provider certificate, which is valid for four years.
This course is recognised as continuing professional development (CPD) by the Medical, Dental and Nursing Royal Colleges and the Health Care Professional Council. Please contact your registering body for further information.
OH-NLS is currently being delivered at an increasing number of centres across the UK, with growing interest from Trusts, ambulance services and community care providers.
To find out more about the course or enquire about becoming a course centre, please contact: courses@resus.org.uk.
Course fees are set locally by individual centres. Resuscitation Council UK charges centres £30.65 per candidate for registration and £18.86 for each NLS manual.
Courses often fill quickly, so we recommend planning your attendance well in advance.
The OH-NLS course is designed for healthcare professionals working in the out-of-hospital environment, including paramedics, pre-hospital medical staff, and pre-hospital nursing staff who are expected to deliver advanced life support.
All applicants must hold a professional healthcare qualification or be in training for a professional healthcare qualification. Paramedic students in their final year of training are eligible to be accepted on this course. Medical students in their final year of training can be accepted as candidates if this is an established local arrangement.
The cost of the course is set locally by the Course Centre; it includes the cost of registration and the course materials (which are provided by the RCUK).
Yes, CPD points are available according to the table below. If you have any further queries regarding CPD points, please contact the Royal Colleges directly.
CPD points | ||
|---|---|---|
Provider course | Candidates | Faculty |
| ALS (two day course) | 10 | 5 (max 10 in any one year) |
| e-ALS (one day course) | 5 | 5 (max 10 in any one year) |
| ALS recertification (one day course) | 5 | 5 (max 10 in any one year) |
| EPALS (2-day) | 10 | 5 (max 10 in any one year) |
| NLS / OH-NLS (one day course) | 5 | 5 (max 10 in any one year) |
| ARNI (two day course) | 10 | 5 (max 10 in any one year) |
| ILS (one day course) | 5 | 5 (max 10 in any one year) |
| PILS (one day course) | 5 | 5 (max 10 in any one year) |
For accreditation of other healthcare staff, please see ‘continuing professional development statement' in ‘related documents.’
The OH-NLS course is based on the same RCUK Guidelines as the NLS course and includes the same course manual. The learning outcomes and assessment standards are the same. Each course will place different emphasis on certain context-specific components based on the working environment and availability of equipment. A candidate who successfully completes either course will have demonstrated competence in the same initial assessment and resuscitation of newborns and be considered an NLS provider of equal standing.
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