Helping babies with serious heart conditions

Tiny Tickers is the only UK charity dedicated to the early detection and care of babies with serious heart conditions. For a small charity with 6 staff members, we make a huge impact for babies born with congenital heart disease (CHD). The early detection of CHD is vital for improving a baby's chances of survival and long-term quality of life. When detected, we know many heart conditions can be treated – surgery survival rates are very high in the UK. But newborn babies sent home from hospital with undetected heart conditions are in grave danger. Our mission is to ensure babies with CHD make it to the operating table. We achieve this by: - training the sonographers who carry out pregnancy scans to be better able to detect heart defects. - placing potentially life-saving equipment to detect CHD in maternity units - spreading awareness of the signs and symptoms of CHD We also support the families of babies with CHD through, what can be, a very traumatic journey, and campaign for better standards. During the pandemic the journey for our beneficiaries has become even more difficult. We responded to this need by increasing our family support services and training more health professionals online.