Tiny Tickers 'The Tiny Hearts Charity'

Tiny Tickers is a small national charity that works to improve the chances of babies born with a serious heart condition. We’ve got a proud track record of helping improve the detection, care and treatment of babies with congenital heart defects. Founded in 1999 by world-renowned fetal cardiologist Dr Helena Gardiner, she realised many of the babies she was caring for could have been helped earlier. One in every 125 babies is born with a heart problem but fewer than half of those are spotted during pregnancy and, in some parts of the UK, detection rates are as low as 1 in 4. That means over 1,000 newborns leave hospitals in the UK every year with no one realising they have a life-threatening heart condition. Babies with undetected heart defects will often fall into the early stages of heart failure – significantly impacting their long-term quality of life. Some will die before anyone realises they have a poorly heart, or before getting the surgery that would save them. We want every baby to be detected as soon as medically possible. For the majority, this means problems being spotted during pregnancy. We don’t want any newborns leaving hospital with an undetected condition that could have been spotted. We want every baby and their family to receive the same high quality, consistent and compassionate care wherever they are based in the UK. And we want their families to receive the best possible information and support. Jon Arnold, Tiny Tickers’ Chief Executive: “Our mission is ambitious but achievable. We can help improve detection rates. We can help make sure every baby gets great care. We can help save lives. We can make a massive difference for heart babies and their families – and that drives our work every single day.”