CHDs: The Shocking Truth

So here it is, CHD Awareness week.  I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to do to spread awareness - even though I'm blessed to have such a healthy baby girl, anyone can see how important awareness of this issue is - and how, even more important, is the advocacy that needs to go on for those babies.  Since I'm sure that many of you have about as much knowledge of these issues as I do (which was basically none just a few short months ago!), each day I'm going to present you with some interesting facts - as well as my thoughts on them.

But first, each day I want to link you to the blog of a mother of one of these amazing children, many of whom are doing events to spread awareness.  Today, I am going to link you to the first blog I found about a child with a CHD - this mother is the one I've contacted to ask where to get accurate information on CHDs.  Meet Jenny, mother to a beautiful little girl named Aly, who has HLHS.  This week, Jenny is featuring other's children's stories.

The facts (in italics) are from the Children's Heart Foundation:

Congenital Heart Defects are America's #1 birth defect.  Nearly 1 of every 100 American babies will be born with a CHD. 

These statistics literally blow my mind.  I think it's something like 1 out of every 800 babies in the US will have Downs Syndrome. 

I don't have much to say, because this statistic speaks for itself - 1 out of every 100 babies in the US.  That's approximately 40,000 babies each year - just in the US.  

Obviously, CHDs vary in severeness.  They can be simple like a heart murmur or as serious as HLHS, where one half of the heart is severely underdeveloped and cannot do its job. 

A couple is so much more likely to have a baby with a CHD than Downs Syndrome - and yet, how many of us "know" more about DS- and I'm willing to bet it's because of the physical features that go along with DS, physical characteristics that are absent from children with CHDs.

This statistic has gotten me to thinking - I am sure that, sometime during our lifetimes, we have each known individuals with CHDs that we weren't aware of.

It's time for those 40,000 babies each YEAR to have an even stronger voice - the parents of these babies may each be Superwoman or Spiderman in human form for all they do for their babies, but they should not have to do it alone.  It's time for the rest of us to join our voices in spreading awareness and seeking funding.