Every year from February 7-14, we recognize and celebrate our amazing congenital heart defect (CHD) warriors during Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week. This year, the Kids at Heart Program at the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Heart Center will host a special virtual celebration for children with congenital heart defects and their families in honor of this week. During this week, children and adults living with CHDs are honored and given the opportunity to increase public awareness of congenital heart defects and childhood heart disease.
What is congenital heart disease (CHD)?
Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common birth defect that affect the structure of a baby's heart and the way it works, affecting 1 percent of newborns each year. Raising awareness about CHDs is important because it helps the general public learn about the symptoms of CHDs and increases funding for researchers and medical professionals to continue their work to improve the lives of heart patients.
Key facts about the Heart Center and CHDs
- CHDs are the most common birth defect that affect the structure of a baby’s heart and the way it works.
- Nearly 40,000 infants in the U.S. are born each year with CHDs.
- The Children’s Heart Center is the largest pediatric heart program in the Southeast.
- We are ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top pediatric cardiac and cardiology programs in the country.
- We are among the top ten pediatric cardiac programs performing the most heart transplants in the country.
- Our outpatient Sibley Heart Center Cardiology clinics have one of the top three largest patient volumes in the country.
- Our fetal cardiology program is one of the largest in the country with more than 36,000 transthoracic echocardiograms annually.
- Our outpatient cardiology services were nationally recognized for their level of patient satisfaction with the 2018 NRC Health Award of Overall Provider Rating.
- Dr. Mahle, Chief of Cardiology and Co-Chief of the Heart Center, was honored by the American Heart Association with the 2020 Award of Meritorious Achievement for his research, advocacy and dedication to pediatric cardiology.