Heart Week 2017

CHD Awareness Week is February 7 - February 14, 2017.
Help us celebrate our heroes and angels and spread awareness for the #1 birth defect in the world!

It's My Heart New England has some great events planned for heart week.
Check back here and our Facebook page often as our plans unfold!

So far...
Join us for a Chick-fil-A fundraiser at the Northshore Mall on Monday, February 6, 2017 from 5-7pm.
Join us for our annual heart social, hosted this year with Mended Little Hearts of Boston, Sunday, February 19, 2-5pm, BU FitRec Center
Join us on Facebook for our annual CHD Awareness campaign of pictures facts, defects in detail, and "Did You Know?"
Join us on February 11 for the Easthampton WinterFest - e-mail Jamie at WesternMA@itsmyheart.org with questions
Join us on February 13 for a fun event at Connecticut Children's Medical Center from 3:30-5:30pm - e-mail Isabelle/Heather at CentralCT@itsmyheart.org with questions
Join us on February 13 at 6:30pm for our 2nd Annual Zumbathon at the Blackstone River Theater in Cumberland, Rhode Island - e-mail Kristie at NorthernRI@itsmyheart.org

Easy ways you can get involved and spread awareness (e-mail us at ne@itsmyheart.org for templates):
1) Submit a write-up for your child's February school newsletter;
2) Share small awareness bags with children's classmates, daycare rooms, workplace;
3) Volunteer to go to a local school to teach a short awareness lesson or read an awareness book;
4) Submit a proposal to have Feb 7-14 declared CHD Awareness week by your city or town;
5) Tell 1, 10, or 100 people your story;
6) Share Awareness materials on your social media sites.

Happy Heart Week!

Did you KNOW?
CHD facts:

* About 1 in 100 babies in the US is born with a Congenital Heart Defect; that's 1 every 15 minutes!
* Each year 40,000 babies in the US are born with a Congenital Heart Defect
* There are over 40 defined Congenital Heart Defects
* This year over 100,000 babies worldwide will not live to celebrate their first birthday as a result of a Congenital Heart Defect
* Each year over 91,000 life years are lost due to Congenital Heart Defects
* Congenital Heart Defects are the most frequently occurring birth defects worldwide
* Congenital Heart Defects are 60 times more prevalent than childhood cancer and twice as many children die from Congenital Heart Defects in the US each year than from all forms of childhood cancer combined, yet research funding for pediatric cancer is FIVE times higher than for Congenital Heart Defects ... largely due to awareness (or lack thereof)
* For every dollar the government spends on medical funding, only a fraction of a penny goes to Congenital Heart Defect research
* 50% of all people born with a Congenital Heart Defect will need at least one open-heart surgery in their life ... many need more
* Excluding undiagnosed cases prior to birth, approximately 100-200 deaths are due to undiagnosed Congenital Heart Defects in newborns each year
* Many cases of sudden cardiac death in young athletes are caused by undiagnosed CHDs and childhood-onset heart disease.
* Most causes of Congenital Heart Defects are unknown. Only 15-20% of all CHDs are related to known genetic conditions.
* A baby’s risk of being born with a Congenital Heart Defect is increased by 3 times if the mother, father, or sibling has a CHD
* In the US there are almost 2 million ADULTS living with Congenital Heart Defects and worldwide over half of the people living with CHD are over age 18
* As awareness, medical care, and treatments have advance, infants with Congenital Heart Defects are living longer and healthier lives

Awareness leads to Funding; Funding leads to Research; Research leads to better treatment and cures! Spread the word!