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What do you think is the most exciting thing about the 20 week scan when you’re pregnant? Hearing your baby’s heart beat and seeing them on the big screen? Finding out whether you are having a boy or a girl so you can start narrowing down names and painting the nursery? You wouldn’t be alone if that’s what you’re most excited about. It’s what I was most excited about at my twenty week scan – I was so incredibly excited to find out if we were having a boy or a girl!
But actually the 20 week scan is one of the most in-depth health checks a baby will have during pregnancy. And it’s the very best opportunity to spot heart defects before birth.
Baby Mason was born with Tetralogy of the Fallot, a heart defect, which was thankfully detected during mum, Lauren’s, pregnancy. He had surgery at just 4 weeks old to fix his heart and is now an outgoing and adventurous 2-year-old, blissfully unaware of his dramatic start.
Lauren says: “If Mason’s condition had not been picked up during my scan, he would have lived only a matter of hours at the most. Early detection saved his life.”
Knowing the diagnosis at the 20-week scan means that doctors are ready to make sure that your baby has the right treatment and support as soon as they are born.
One in every 125 babies is born with a heart problem – that’s more than 5,000 newborns each year in the UK. The baby heart’s charity, Tiny Tickers, wants to make sure that every baby is given the best possible start by increasing understanding of the real purpose of the 20-week scan.
Early diagnosis of heart defects gives babies a better chance of survival and long term quality of life. Detection during pregnancy means the right medical experts can be on hand at birth, treatment can begin as soon as possible and parents can start getting the support they need – from the start.
The 20-week scan is the very best opportunity to spot heart defects before birth. If you are pregnant, you can test just how much you know about it through an online quiz, at think20.org.uk – developed by Tiny Tickers.
At the end of the quiz you can also request an information pack which will give mums to be a check list on what questions to ask the sonographer at your 20-week scan giving you the confidence to protect your tiny ticker.
Tiny Tickers are aiming to reach all pregnant women with practical information which could save their baby’s life.
Please take a moment to take part in the Think 20. Think HEART quiz and then share it on your Facebook or Twitter. Together we can build vital awareness and reach the 1,000 babies sent home every year from UK hospitals with a heart condition that nobody knows about.
This is a collaborative post, but I was NOT compensated for my time. I just thought it was important.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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