Newborns at Greenwich Hospital will wear red knitted hats in February to raise awareness about heart disease and congenital heart defects through the American Heart Association’s Little Hats, Big Hearts program.
Greenwich Hospital is among the hundreds of hospitals nationwide participating in Little Hats, Big Hearts to celebrate American Heart Month. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women. Nationally, eight in 1,000 babies are born with a heart defect.
“It’s never too early to start raising awareness about heart health,” said Jeanne VanSciver, RN, perinatal senior coordinator at Greenwich Hospital, which welcomes more than 2,800 newborns a year. The hospital offers perinatology services for women with high-risk pregnancies and has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Level III A for newborns needing specialized care.
Volunteers have knitted and donated thousands of red hats for the program, which honors babies, moms and heart healthy lives. The goal is to “empower moms to live heart healthy lives and to help their children do the same,” reports the American Heart Association.
