The Face of CHD's...

Hi everyone...

I am doing a post dedicated to CHD Awareness today, in honor of CHD Awareness Week. I know, much less riveting than a normal post, but it is necessary, I think. I did a post about HLHS (Chris' defect) shortly after he was born, but I think there is a bigger picture that I need to share. So without further ado, here is some things you didn't know about CHD's:

• Congenital Heart Defects are the #1 birth defect. Source: March of Dimes
• Congenital Heart Defects are the #1 cause of birth defect related deaths. Source: March of Dimes
• About 1 out of every 100 babies are born each year with some type of Congenital Heart Defect. (approx. 40,000/year) Source: Children’s Heart Foundation
• Nearly twice as many children die from Congenital Heart Defects in the United States each year as from all forms of childhood cancers combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher than funding for CHD. Source: Children’s Heart Foundation
• 4-8% born with CHD have Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
• 4-10% born with CHD have Atrioventricular Septal Defects
• 8-11% born with CHD have Coarctation of the Aorta
• 9-14% born with CHD have Tetralogy of Fallot
• 10-11% born with CHD have Transposition of the Great Arteries
• 14-16% born with CHD have Ventricular Septal Defects
• This year approximately 4,000 babies will not live to see their first birthday because of Congenital Heart Defects. Source: Children’s Heart Foundation
• The cost for inpatient surgery to repair Congenital Heart Defects exceeds $2.2 billion a year. Source: Children’s Heart Foundation
• Of every dollar the government spends on medical funding only a fraction of a penny is directed toward Congenital Heart Defect research. Source: Children’s Heart Foundatio

"In the United States, a child is born with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) every 15 minutes. Children undergo surgeries and sadly, some die every day from CHDs.

We need to understand what causes CHDs and to prevent them. We need to detect and diagnose CHDs as early as possible. While much progress has been made, we need to develop new treatments for CHDs so that children undergo fewer invasive surgeries and improve the long-term prognosis for children with CHDs.

We need your support to fund the most promising research to advance the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of CHDs in children." ~Chilren's Heart Foundation

I know many of my friends have been asking what to do with this info once they have it. I say tell everyone you know! If you know someone who is expecting, make sure they know about screening newborns for CHD's. It is not a routine screening. Most CHD's are deadly, it's worth telling them about it!!!!! Also, if you are really ambitious, write your congressman to ensure funding for CHD research! We can only help these kids so much, until we know the cause!

If you can forward a chain letter about how many friends really love you then you can talk about CHD awareness!

Links for additional info:

http://www.marchofdimes.com/birthdefects_congenitalheart.html

http://www.childrensheartfoundation.org/about-chf/fact-sheets

http://www.itsmyheart.org/chd-information/chd-facts/