Newborns at Advocate Sherman wear little red hats to raise heart disease awareness

In recognition of American Heart Month, Advocate Sherman Hospital is distributing red crocheted hats to all babies born in February to help raise awareness about heart disease, the number one killer of Americans, and congenital heart defects, the most common type of birth defect in the country.

This is the fifth consecutive year that Advocate Health Care and the American Heart Association have worked together to help make a difference for babies with heart defects, which affect more than 40,000 newborns each year, according to the AHA.

"Our Maternal Fetal Medicine clinic at Sherman is very proactive about prenatal heart screens for our babies," shared Fran Teti-Teal, director of the Family Birthing Center at Advocate Sherman Hospital,"

"Our whole Family Birthing Center family is happy to help raise awareness about heart disease during heart month and are grateful to the volunteers across the country who knit all of these red hats for our littlest patients."

The AHA is distributing 6,000 hats in the Chicago area for the "Little Hats, Big Hearts" campaign, 2,000 of which will go to newborns across the Advocate Health Care system.