Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week Feb 7-14

This week an international coalition of families, individuals, non-profit organizations, support groups, and health professionals participate in a campaign to increase public awareness of Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) and Childhood Heart Disease. My family has been affected by Congenital Heart Defects and I want to share information with you about this increasingly prevalent birth defect.

Congenital Heart Defects are any heart defects that a child is born with, different from adult heart disease that is acquired.

Affecting approximately one in every 125 babies born, congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect (March of Dimes).

Forty thousand people are born each year with a CHD.

4,000 children will not survive their first year because of a CHD (The Children's Heart Foundation).

Twice as many children die each year from a CHD than all forms of Pediatric Cancers combined (The Children's Heart Foundation).

Ventricular septal defect (VSD--a hole in heart between the ventricles) is generally considered to be the most common type of malformation, accounting for about 1/3 of all congenital heart defects.

We are so grateful for our Katie and the journey that she has taken us on. We have been so blessed to have amazing family members, friends, doctors, nurses, and therapists. However, we hope that more money, time, and research can be spent on finding the cause and advancing the treatments of congenital heart defects.