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Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds urge parents to take a CPR class

"I can't recommend this enough."
/ Source: TODAY Contributor

Actors and parents Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds used their social media platforms to promote CPR education among other parents in Instagram posts that received over 508,000 likes in just a few hours.

Lively, who is raising daughters James, 2, and Ines, 8 months, with Reynolds, addressed "ALL MAMAS AND DADDIES OUT THERE" in her post caption, writing, "I can't recommend this enough, I took a CPR class with a focus on babies and toddlers." In the picture, Lively is sitting next to several CPR dummies and a baby doll.

"For those of you who haven't done it, you will love it," Lively wrote. "It's so helpful by giving you knowledge, tools, and some peace of mind."

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In the comments of her post, Lively's followers thanked her for promoting CPR education, and many shared personal experiences in which CPR saved or could have saved a child's life. "Saved my son's life at a year old when he choked, so important!" said one follower. "Thank you for spreading awareness. My dad saved my sister's life (she was 2 years old) with CPR," wrote another.

One commenter even prompted a personal response from the actress. "I had to do CPR on our two and a half-month-old daughter that had passed away, and I wish I knew how to do this before," wrote Instagram user Emily Hutchinson.

"I'm so sorry. Thank you for sharing," Lively replied directly to Hutchinson in the thread. "Thank you, because when you share your story, we can all lean on each other as mamas. We can also communicate and find ways to best protect each and all our babies together with what we've each experienced."

Ryan Reynolds also posted about the class he and Lively took on his Instagram account, revealing that it was a refresher for him and that he once had to use his CPR skills to save his nephew's life. He also encouraged parents to take the class, writing, "It takes only a few hours and it's also kinda, sorta fun."

As Lively noted in her post, parents can use Google to find infant and toddler CPR classes available near them, or they can search the American Heart Association's website for a specific class or training session.