What is a congenital heart defect?
Congenital means it is present at birth. Heart defects begin in the early stages of pregnancy when the baby's heart is forming.

What does CHD stand for?
It's the abbreviation for congenital heart defect.

How many babies are born with CHD?
Approximately 40,000 babies are born each year in the United States with a CHD. That equates to 1 out of 125 babies born with a heart defect.

It is the #1 birth defect with more occurrences than Spina Bifida, Down syndrome or hearing loss yet many are not aware of this condition.

What is the number one birth defect?
Congenital heart defects.

How many kinds of CHD are there?
There are approximately 35 different types of congenital heart defects.

How are congenital heart defects treated?
Today, most heart defects can be corrected or helped with surgery, medicine, or devices, such as artificial valves and pacemakers. In the last 25 years, advances in treatment of heart defects have enabled half a million U.S. children with significant heart defects to survive into adulthood. Need help in deciding where to go? Here's an article that will help.

Is there a prenatal test for CHD?
An echocardiagram can accurately detect many heart defects. This test needs to be performed by a specialized doctor and not an obstetrician. Some heart defects can be detected through routine ultrasound.

What causes congenital heart defect?
In most cases, scientists do not know the cause but feel both environmental and genetic factors appear to play a role.

A few of the environmental factors that increase the risk are drinking alcohol and cocaine usage. Some maternal medical conditions increase the risk of fetal CHD. The most common is diabetes but not all forms will increase the risk. Women with PKU are also at risk are recommended to follow a special diet prior to pregnancy. Some studies suggest that not enought of B vitamin folic acid is taking before and during pregnancy.

Some medications if taken during pregnancy increase the risk of CHD in the baby. These include isotretinoin, lithium and some anti-seizure medication. Source: March of Dimes.

Anyone with one of the risk factors mentioned above should discuss this with your OB and request a fetal echocardiogram to screen for a heart defect in the baby.

If you know of someone with the above risk factors planning to have a baby, please share this information with them.