Raising awareness for Congenital Heart Defects
and providing support and information to families and adults affected by CHD
What is CHD?
Congenital heart defects are structural problems with the heart present at birth. They happen because of incomplete or abnormal development of the foetus' heart during the very early weeks of pregnancy, often before the mother is aware that she is pregnant. Defects range in severity from simple problems, such as "holes" between chambers of the heart, to very severe malformations, such as complete absence of one or more chambers or valves.
The cause of CHD is still unknown
Congenital Heart Defects are usually, but not always, diagnosed early in life.
Rarely heart disease is not congenital but may occur during childhood such as heart damage due to infection. This type of heart disease is called acquired; examples include Kawasaki disease and rheumatic fever. Children also can be born with or develop heart rate problems such as slow, fast, or irregular heart beats, known as "arrhythmias".
About CHD-NI.
Congenital Heart Defects N-Ireland ( CHD-NI) was established in March 2009 and is a voluntary support group for anyone affected by, or living with, a congenital heart defect.
Support is not restricted by borders and people around the world can meet each other through our social network
Heart2Hearts.
What CHD-NI does
CHD-NI is aiming to raise awareness of Congenital Heart defects, and to provide information and support .
Every parent wishes that their children will be born healthy but if this is not the case it brings a lot of stress and worries. You find yourself lost in a whole new world which add more fear and questions about what the future will bring for your child.
Being able to share your worries and find appropriate information is essential to find a way to cope with a diagnosis.
We have a social network website called Heart2Hearts were you can meet other parents or adults and share experiences.
You can contact CHD-NI any time by email:
info@chd-ni.co.uk
- Working together with other support groups:
A website set up to provide information about CHD and raising more awareness
Charity in N-Ireland
and related causes/organisations
