Did you KNOW?

Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) Awareness Week is February 7-14

Did you KNOW?
CHD facts:

* Nearly 1 our of every100 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.
* Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) occur early in fetal development; often before mom even knows she is pregnant.
* There are over 40 defined Congenital Heart Defects. None have a cure.
* Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) are never cured. They are only repaired; and often more than once.
* This year over 100,000 babies worldwide will not live to celebrate their first birthday as a result of a congenital heart defect.
* Congenital Heart Defects are the most frequently occurring birth defects worldwide.
* Congenital Heart Defects are 60 times more prevalent than childhood cancer.
* Twice as many children die from Congenital Heart Defects in the US each year than from all forms of childhood disease combined.
* According to the CDC, nearly one in three infants who die from a birth defects has a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD).
* Every year over 91,000 life years are lost in the US from Congenital Heart Defects (CHD).
* Research funding for pediatric diseases 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.
* Hospital costs for people with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) in the US in 2019 were over $9.8 billion.
* Pediatric hospitalizations for Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) accounted for approximately $5.6 billion in hospital costs; 15.1% of costs for all pediatric hospitalizations in 2009.
* 50% of all people born with a Congenital Heart Defect will need at least one open-heart surgery in their life ... many need more.
* 25% of infants born with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) will need some kind of intervention within the first year in order to survive.
* Nearly 10,000 babies in the US are born each year with Critical Congenital Heart Defects (CCHD). CCHDs are often fatal if not treated within hours or days of birth.
* About 69% of babies born with critical Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) are expected to survive to at least age 18.
* 1 in 4 Congenital Heart Defects are Critical Congenital Heart Defects which are often fatal if not treated within hours or days of birth.
* 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 Congenital Heart Defects 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 over 1.5 million ADULTS living with Congenital Heart Defects and worldwide; over half of the people living with CHD are over age 18 for the first time ever!
* The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has stated that Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) are a serious and underappreciated global health problem.
* In the last two decades mortality rates for those with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) have declined by more than 35% due to advanced made through research.
* Approximately 81% of babies born with critical or non-critical Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) are expected to survive to at least age 35.
* People with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) are now living long enough to develop illnesses like the rest of the adult population like high blood pressure and acquired heart disease.
* As awareness, medical care, and treatments have advance, infants with Congenital Heart Defects are living longer and healthier lives.
* Today, about 95% of babies born with a non-critical Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) are expected to survive to at least age 18.

Did you KNOW?
It's My Heart New England facts:

* It's My Heart New England provides over 120 comfort bags each year to cardiac families in in-patient units at local hospitals and these bags include quilts from a quilting group we started called It's My Quilt?
* It's My Heart New England takes our families apple picking at four different locations every fall?
* It's My Heart New England works with many other heart groups and families to provide Heart Week Lunches, Mother's and Father's Day events, and Ice Cream socials at Boston Children's Hospital?
* It's My Heart New England hosts monthly family events such as painting at Plaster Fun Time and the Jack-o-lantern spectacular in Rhode Island?
* It's My Heart New England, as part of our health and Wellness effort, started a running club called RUN IMH where we enter races that also include family fun walks and Tot Trots? Contact Jamie at westernma@itsmyheart.org for more details or to join!
* It's My Heart New England hosts multiple annual eggs hunts in the spring for our heart families and friends?
* It's My Heart New England takes families to StoryLand every summer?
* It's My Heart New England works with local colleges such as Emmanuel and Endicott College to spread CHD Awareness?
* It's My Heart New England uses real heart stories to spread awareness - please contact us for more information (neprograms@itsmyheart.org) if you would like to share your story
* All of the friendly faces working for It's My Heart New England are VOLUNTEERS and all the events hosted by It's My Heart New England are open to heart heroes, their siblings, other family, and friends and are generally free of charge thanks in large part to your participation in fundraisers, including our annual CHD Awareness Walk in the summer and our annual craft fair in the Fall - from us and all of our families thank you!!
* It's My Heart New England takes our heart families ICE skating?? Well, it might not be real ice, but the experience is definitely the same :)
* It's My Heart New England celebrates the end of heart week each year with a heart social? This year's heart social was held on Saturday, February 10! Check out our website (www.itsmyheartnewengland.org) or Facebook Page for more details.
* It's My Heart New England hosts an amazing CHD Awareness Walk every summer where we thank our families and celebrate our heart heroes and heart angels? Following the Walk are free, fun activities for the kids, lunch, and even a photo booth, a live animal show, and a drumming circle! This year's Walk will be held on Sunday, June 30, 2024 at Danvers High School in Danvers, MA. Check our website (walk.itsmyheartnewengland.org) for registration and other details.

Do you know what the funds you donate to
It's My Heart New England are used for?

A $5 donation will pay for the cost of shipping a special package to families with heart angels so that they can know that the CHD community will always support them and remember their loved ones;
A $5 donation will pay for the cost of shipping a birthday card to a =heart hero or super sibling;
An $8 donation will allow a heart hero to "ice" skate at Jordan's Furniture in Avon;
A $10 donation will pay for a hospital parking pass or meal voucher at Boston Children's Hospital;
A $15 donation will pay for one heart hero to paint a piece at Plaster Fun Time or attend a second row performance at the Big Apple Circus;
A $20 donation will pay for a gas or other gift card for families to get to the hospital or buy toiletries while in-patient;
A $25 donation will send someone to see the Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular at the Roger Williams Zoo in Rhode Island;
A $30 donation will pay for an entire summer ice cream social event for the cardiac floor at Boston Children's Hospital;
A $40 donation will fill one of the comfort bags supplied to inpatient families in the cardiac units at many local hospitals throughout New England;
A $50 donation will allow a family of two o go to StoryLand for a day of fun;
A $60 donation will allow one family to go camping overnight at a beautiful campground in Plymouth;
A $75 donation will create awareness bags during heart week to distribute to an entire suburban elementary school;
An $80 donation will take a dozen families apple picking in Maine or Southern NH
A $100 donation will pay for a planting activity for 50 children at an AHA Little Heart Hero day;
A $125 donation will fund an egg hunt that allows 75 kids to come and participate;
A $150 donation will fund a Sibling Sundaes event for our very special heart siblings;
A $250 donation will fund a pizza and root beer party, with gifts at Boston Children's Hospital to celebrate Father's Day on the cardiac floor;
A $400 donation will fund an ice cream social and all-day museum admission for 50 people to Image Nation in Connecticut or the NH Children's Museum;
A $1,500 donation will fund one of the FIVE scholarships that are awarded to college-bound students each year