Tiny Tickers is working hard to help give babies with congenital heart disease (CHD) a better start and support their families throughout the toughest of journeys. We want heart babies to get the treatment they need as early as possible. We want them to get the right care at the right time to give them the best chance of survival and a good quality of life. And we want their families to receive the support they need.
National prenatal detection rates of heart defects have doubled since Tiny Tickers was launched – and we’re proud of the impact we’ve had. But although great strides have been made in detecting heart problems, there is still far more that needs to be done. Sadly, heart defects are still one of the biggest killers in babies under one year old, being responsible for 1 in 13 infant deaths. We are determined to improve this statistic. We want every baby to be detected as soon as medically possible.
Read our 2025 Impact Report here.
“For a small charity we’ve already achieved so much, and we have big ambitions to do even more. Thanks to our wonderful supporters, we’re growing – which means more training, more support for families and generally having an even bigger impact for babies with serious heart conditions.”
Jon, Chief Executive
Training
What we do: Tiny Tickers provide specialist training to sonographers doing 20-week pregnancy scans – the best chance to spot most heart problems before birth
From Telford to Torbay and Grimsby to Guernsey, we have trained sonographers at hospitals all over the UK. One third of serious heart defects go undetected before birth and it’s vital that we train and educate as many sonographers as possible. In recent years we’ve completed projects throughout the North West, Yorkshire, Scotland and the North East regions. This means hundreds of sonographers will have the chance to benefit from our expert trainers, through a combination of theory lecture days and hands-on practical training in sonographers’ local units.
In addition to providing sonographers with face-to-face training, we also host online training and webinars and provide resources such as cardiac information cards and situs dolls to assist with scanning.
The impact we’ve had: We have trained thousands of sonographers in hospitals across the UK to have the confidence and ability to detect heart defects during pregnancy scans.
Placing Life-Saving Equipment
What we do: We place pulse oximetry machines in maternity units across the UK. Pulse oximetry machines can indicate possible heart or respiratory issues quickly and effectively by measuring the amount of oxygen in the blood. Low oxygen levels can be a key sign that a baby could have a critical heart defect. This is a very simple test that can help identify cases quickly and effectively, leading to immediate referral if required. Not every baby will be born visibly displaying signs and symptoms of CHD and without this machine serious defects could go undetected.
Tiny Tickers’ Test for Tommy campaign highlights the importance of every newborn getting the test that could save their life. Find out more here.
The impact we’ve had: We have placed over 600 pulse oximetry machines in hospitals across the UK, from Shetland to the New Forest and Bangor to Scarborough.
Family Support
We help families that receive a diagnosis of CHD, supporting them at each stage of the journey ahead.
Our family support packs and resources help families to understand the diagnosis of CHD and what may happen during a hospital stay with their baby.
We have a wonderfully supportive community for parents to access in our peer support groups and Facebook parents group. These communities enable parents and carers of babies and children with heart conditions to find support and encouragement from one another, as well as share their experiences. Our family support webinars are another way we provide advice and support to heart families when they need it most.
The impact we’ve had: We have reached thousands of heart families, who often tell us that our support was a lifeline during their darkest hours.
Awareness
What we do: We spread awareness of CHD among parents-to-be, new parents, health professionals and the general public.
Our Think Heart campaign highlights the key signs that a newborn baby may have an undetected heart condition. The concept was developed by Dr Joan LaRovere at the Royal Brompton Hospital and it’s our mission to get the message to as many new parents and health professionals as possible.
The impact we’ve had: Hundreds of thousands of people have seen the life-saving Think HEART message via their GP surgeries, hospitals and on social media.
Standards
What we do: Tiny Tickers campaign to improve the early detection and care of heart babies
We’re the patient and public representative on the committee overseeing a national piece of work to improve early detection rates, plus we’re on the NHS England clinical reference group for CHD, the steering group for the ongoing national pilot for pulse oximetry testing and a range of other committees and boards – all making sure the patient voice is heard in decisions about how services are run.
The standards put in place by the NHS England board also include specific improvements we have lobbied for – as a result parents-to-be whose baby is suspected of having a heart defect will be seen quicker by a specialist, and will have a specially trained nurse to support when they do. Tiny Tickers are proud to have achieved real, practical improvements for families at an extremely difficult time.
We have collaborated with the NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme on an information leaflet given to pregnant parents whose baby is suspected to have a cardiac anomaly at their 20-week scan.
The impact we’ve had: Our work in partnership with other charities includes being part of a national coalition of heart charities that has helped drive improvements to children’s heart services nationally through working with NHS leaders and government.
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