I'm helping the 1 in every 125 babies born in the UK with a serious heart condition. Support me throughout October as I take on my 125 challenge for babies born with serious heart conditions. 

At our 20 week anomaly scan we were told there was a small hole visible in Arthur’s heart and we were referred to St Mary’s hospital in Manchester for further scans a week later. At that appointment we were told he had a large hole in his heart, a condition called AVSD and he  would need open heart surgery between 3 to 6 months old to close the hole. Since he’s been born his diagnosis has improved slightly and his surgery might not be needed until he is 2, something regular monitoring with his consultant will determine. 

Following this diagnosis I was recommended to speak to Tiny Tickers a charity who help parents deal with a Congenital Heart Defect diagnosis and guide you through the rest of your pregnancy and preparation for surgery with weekly parent support group sessions. I can’t tell you how much these sessions helped me come to terms with Arthur’s diagnosis and the inevitable surgery he will have, as well as advising on what to look out for if he starts to struggle. 

Approximately 1 in every 125 babies in the uk has a heart problem but fewer than half of them are detected during pregnancy, with some only being diagnosed as they have gone into heart failure and are struggling. Tiny tickers work to improve detection, care and treatment of babies with serious heart conditions by training sonographers to spot CHD and provide funding for equipment and new technologies. Without Tiny Tickers training, our sonographer may not have picked up Arthur’s heart condition during our 20 week scan and we may not have been aware of it until he started to struggle. 

To continue to provide their services they need funding through donations and fundraising. So to contribute we are completing the 125 challenge in October to raise money for the charity by doing the following:

 ⭐️ Walk 125 km

⭐️ Cycle 125 km 

⭐️ Play 125 holes of golf 

⭐️ Running 125 km 

I will post regular updates on our progress, please donate if you can as every little bit helps. 

I will forever be grateful to tiny tickers for their support and work to improve the detection rates of Congenital Heart Defects.