Group Observes Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) Awareness Day
Everyone knows that February 14th is a day for hearts. Did you know that besides Valentine’s Day, it’s also Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) Awareness Day?
Every year, nearly 40,000 babies are born with CHD, which accounts for 1% of all births. This is 1 in 100 babies. For comparison, 1 in 800 babies are born with Down Syndrome and 1 in 6,250 children are diagnosed with cancer. There are many different CHDs ranging in severity of condition and life expectancy.
Save the Storks comes alongside pregnant mothers whose babies are diagnosed with a CHD and are often confronted with the option of abortion. We provide resources for mothers to make a decision that is best for them and their babies. There is incredible technology that makes the probability very high that a child born with a CHD will have a happy and healthy life. And survival rates are improving every day.
We are thrilled to have singer/songwriter Matt Hammitt as Save the Storks Mission Ambassador and Men’s Outreach Promoter. After a successful career with Christian-Contemporary band, Sanctus Real, Hammit and his wife Sarah welcomed their son Bowen, who was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS), in 2010. This condition is where the left side of the heart is underdeveloped or — in the most severe cases — practically missing. The probability of children with HLHS living to the age of five years old is 30%. But Bowen underwent a series of surgeries to reconstruct his heart and is now a happy 11-year-old with a great love for his family, following in his dad’s footsteps with a passion for music.
The Hammitt family released the film, Bowen’s Heart, and also have a blog of the same name to share Bowen’s story. He even celebrated his 10th birthday on “Good Morning America.” Matt and Bowen were special guests at our 2020 Stork Ball.
Other celebrities who have CHDs include Olympic snowboard champion Shaun White, college basketball player Shareef O’Neal (son of Shaquille O’Neal), and Jimmy Kimmel’s son.
Save the Storks is For Every Woman. We believe in empowering women with the knowledge that children with CHDs are a blessing. We seek to connect women to resources to help them through their pregnancies and then, to welcome their babies into a loving, nurturing environment.
About Save the Storks
Save the Storks’ mission is to create a story of hope and empowerment for every woman in an unplanned pregnancy. This ministry equips, educates and trains pregnancy resource centers and churches across the United States to help them empower women to choose life. To learn more about Save the Storks, visit www.SavetheStorks.com.
(SOURCE: Save the Storks)
