Little Red Hats Make a Big Impact at Raritan Bay Medical Center-Perth Amboy
February 14, 2018
Raritan Bay-Perth Amboy participates in the American Heart Association’s Little Hats, Big Hearts program to empower new moms to live heart-healthy while raising awareness of congenital heart defects.
Hackensack Meridian Health Raritan Bay Medical Center-Perth Amboy is excited to be part of the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Little Hats, Big Hearts program this year. The AHA is raising awareness about family heart health and congenital heart defects, the most common type of birth defect in the country, with support from The Children’s Heart Foundation. This effort aims to empower new moms to take charge of their own wellbeing while creating a healthy lifestyle for the entire family.
As part of the Little Hats, Big Hearts program, babies born at Raritan Bay-Perth Amboy in February are receiving a beautiful handmade, knitted or crocheted red hat, as well as a kit full of heart-healthy information for mom and baby. Each mom is receiving tips on raising a healthy family, ways mom can take care of herself, heart-healthy recipes, and information on children’s heart health. In New Jersey alone, 3,500 kits are being handed out across the state, including at other Hackensack Meridian Health hospitals. Raritan Bay-Perth Amboy is distributing nearly 100 kits through Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week, February 7 to 14, through the end of the month.
Congenital heart defects are structural problems with the heart present at birth. They result when a mishap occurs during heart development soon after conception and 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. According to the AHA, it’s possible to fix most congenital heart defects and there are an estimated 2 million CHD survivors in the U.S.
Raritan Bay-Perth Amboy and the AHA are spreading awareness to moms and families at the right time; February, American Heart Month, about heart health and a healthy family lifestyle.