Babies with single ventricle congenital heart disease (CHD) are often diagnosed during pregnancy. For parents and families, learning about your baby’s heart condition during pregnancy is unexpected and stressful, and many parents express a need for support.
Working with families and their heart care teams, we have developed a program that provides psychological support for parents after prenatal diagnosis of single ventricle CHD. We call this program HeartGPS because it helps:
We designed HeartGPS to ensure parents that they are not alone. The program includes 8 sessions with a psychologist, information resources, and a personalized support plan. The focus is on increasing support and wellbeing, as well as helping parents to bond with their baby in ways that feel right for them.
In this study, we want to learn if HeartGPS is useful and effective for parents and their babies when it is offered in addition to their usual fetal cardiac care.
Pregnant parents who receive a prenatal diagnosis of single ventricle CHD may be eligible to participate. Our team can provide more information about study eligibility and participation.
The study begins in pregnancy and ends when the baby is about 12 months old.
In this study, moms are asked to:
For babies in the study, we will:
Dads who join the study are asked to:
Parents who choose to take part in this study will be randomly assigned to receive usual care or usual care plus HeartGPS.
We hope the knowledge gained through this study will benefit families of babies with CHD in the future. While being in this study may not have immediate benefit, parents who take part will have an important role in developing a better support program for families who follow in their footsteps.
There are minimal risks associated with this study. All possible risks will be discussed with those interested in learning more about the study.
Families will receive up to $340 for the time and effort involved in being part of the study.
HeartGPS Study Team
heartgps@cchmc.org
513-400-3701
Heart and Mind Wellbeing Center
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
3333 Burnet Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45229-3039