Healthcare with Heart: Celebrating Heart Month at Children’s Hospital New Orleans

Grocery store aisles are filled with bright red hearts adorned with “Be Mine,” and chocolate candies are spilling off the shelves reminding us that Valentine’s Day is upon us. Forget celebrating cupid’s favorite holiday just one day of the month, and consider celebrating the entire month of February as American Heart Month. At Children’s Hospital New Orleans, we are celebrating heart month by raising awareness for heart health and those born with heart defects.

According to the American Heart Association, congenital heart defects (CHDs) affect approximately one in 110 births in the United States every year or about 40,000 babies annually. As the most common type of birth defect, it important educate the community on this disease. CHDs are complications that occur as a baby's heart is developing during pregnancy, before the baby is born. Congenital heart issues appear in babies in a variety of ways, ranging from simple to very complex. Some CHDs can be monitored by the baby's doctor and managed with medicines. Others will require surgery, sometimes as soon as in the first few hours after birth.

A baby may even "grow out" of some of the simpler heart problems. Other babies will have a combination of defects and require several operations throughout their lives. These defects can appear as undeveloped chambers of the heart or heart problems that cause to much or too little blood to pass through the lungs. Regardless, CHDs are treatable with the right care and resources. At Children’s Hospital, we are proud to offer those services with our extraordinary doctors and nurses and our new state-of-the-art facilities.

The Heart Center at Children's Hospital provides comprehensive evaluation and treatment of patients with congenital cardiovascular disorders, from before they are born, through childhood, and into their adult years. Our accomplished and dedicated team of specialists includes physicians, surgeons, nurses, and support staff who are trained to care for the unique needs of children with heart disease as well as their families.

The Heart Center offers the benefits of a full-service pediatric hospital dedicated only to the care of kids. As the only facility in the state offering a full array of pediatric specialists and sub-specialists to care for the whole child from heart to toe, it is our mission to enhance the quality of life for every child.

Click here to learn more about The Heart Center at Children's Hospital.