For a heart mom like me, this is an exciting month as the National Birth Defects Prevention Network (NBDPN) promotes January 2012 as National Birth Defects Prevention Month! This 2012 theme focuses on congenital heart defects, "And the Beat Goes On… Looking to the Future for Healthy Hearts." The NDBPN Education and Outreach Committee has developed prevention materials, fact sheets and preconception checklists to assist state program staff in promoting birth defects prevention during 'January is Birth Defects Prevention Month'. A complete 2012 packet is available at the NBDPN website. There are two great resources available for families to who would like to learn more about congenital heart defects, "Maternal Steps to Help Prevent Congenital Heart Defects" and "5 Things You Need to Know about Congenital Heart Defects." Please share this information with your families and friends to increase awareness of congenital heart defects.
To see what programs are available in your state please visit the NBDPN State Program Website. To view your state's specific birth defects profile visit the NBDPN State Specific Profile Website.
Are you interested in promoting CHD awareness? The National Health Observances Toolkit provides sample announcements, tweets, web badges and e-cards to assist you on your mission!
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers FREE brochures, fact sheets, and other educational materials to promote CHD awareness in addition to links for activities and prevention.
The March of Dimes promotes CHD awareness in healthy pregnancy and pregnancy planning in their News Moms Need - what moms and moms-to-be need to know Blog.
If you have questions about the NBDPN January 2012 Birth Defects Prevention Month, please contact Mary Knapp at Mary.Knapp@doh.state.nj.us or Cara Mai at cmai@cdc.gov.
