Helping Tiny Hearts

Nothing prepares you for the news that your baby has a heart problem,
but we can ensure that parents receive the best advice and information and their babies receive
the best care and treatment and have a better start in life.

Getting the best start in life

Our aim is to give every "heart baby" the best start in life.

Every pregnancy carries a small risk (about 1 in 145) of having a baby that is born with congenital heart disease (CHD).

What can you do?

Before conception
Parents can ask for appropriate counselling, especially if there has been a previous problem in pregnancy or if there is a family history of congenital heart disease. This is known as pre-conception genetic counselling.

All parents-to-be can ask their GPs for advice (such as taking Folic Acid supplements which are known to help decrease the risk of some congenital disorders).

In pregnancy
Parents should ask for their baby's heart to be properly scanned for congenital heart disease at the routine "20 week" scan.

We recommend the minimum scan should include the "4-chamber view" (the main pumping chambers) and the "outflow tracts" (the major arteries that carry blood from the heart to the rest of the body).
See diagram of the heart at 20 weeks.

The best scan is the "5 Transverse View" scan, which includes the above scans plus 2 more, hence "5 views". See diagram of the 5 Views.

If a problem is discovered
Parents of "heart babies" will be referred to a specialist in a cardiac unit.

Relatives who are potential parents need to be informed if a family history of congenital heart disease is discovered.

Living with heart disease
There are now over 150,000 adults living with congenital heart disease and every year another 5,000 more babies are born.

There are many organisations that are dedicated to helping children and adults to live their lives to the full.

What do we do?

We believe that it is important to improve the detection of heart disease before birth, at the routine "20-week" ultrasound scan.

Early detection of heart disease means that babies and their mothers can be referred to specialists for care and treatment.

We provide information on how to improve detection of heart disease before birth to health professionals, through our website and via conferences, articles, CDs and posters.

We raise awareness of the benefits of early detection, which helps to promote further training and education.

We seek to improve national standards for screening for heart disease before birth, so that we reduce postcode inequality and give more babies a better start in life.

We seek to improve our understanding of fetal heart disease by monitoring standards and new treatments in the UK and around the world.

Why does the NHS not do this?

Many charities provide extra services to hospitals, including equipment and facilities.

We think the NHS should provide training and information, but unfortunately they do not.

We continue to lobby for improvements in detection of heart disease to become part of the normal training and practice of all sonographers across the UK.

Find out more about heart disease and how it may affect you
next topic (who is at risk?) >

Tiny Tickers and echo^UK are effective cardiac health in obstetrics ltd., UK registered charity 1078114
Registered company no. 3758594 (England & Wales) Registered office: 52 Valiant House, Vicarage Crescent, London SW11 3LU
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