Tiny Tickers

Tiny Tickers is a small national charity with big ambitions. We’ve got a proud track record of helping improve the detection, care and treatment of babies with serious heart conditions, and we have exciting plans to do even more to help in the future. We were founded in 1999 by world-renowned fetal cardiologist Dr Helena Gardiner, when she realised many of the babies she was caring for could have been helped earlier. Our chief executive, Jon Arnold, is the parent of a child who has had open heart surgery for a major defect, and he heads our team of staff and volunteers based throughout the UK. Mission and need We want to increase early detection rates of cardiac conditions because we know that spotting a defect early can improve a baby’s chances of survival and long-term quality of life. Around 6,000 babies are born with a serious heart defect in the UK each year, and around 1,000 of these newborns head home with no one realising their lives are in danger. We are changing that. Find out more Our work and impact Rates for heart problems being detected during pregnancy have more than doubled since we launched – thanks in part to our work. We train sonographers to spot defects during routine pregnancy scans; support families with a diagnosis; campaign to improve service standards; raise awareness; and support academic research. Find out more Our plans and ambitions We’ve already achieved a lot, and we have exciting ambitions to make an even greater impact for heart babies born in the UK. From large-scale sonographer training programmes; to new parent support and information projects; to powerful lobbying campaigns for improved standards – we’re doing even more to help.