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Background

The Ladybug CDH Foundation was inspired by Finley.

At their 20 week ultrasound appointment on March 31st 2010 (ironically CDH Awareness Day), Liz and her husband Jon were thrilled to get the news that they were having a second girl. That news was quickly overshadowed by the fact that the baby had a pretty serious complication. The baby had a left-sided congenital diaphragmatic hernia (this happens in one in about every 2,500 births) which means the diaphragm didn’t close entirely when it was supposed to and some of the lower organs (in this case; stomach, intestines, and spleen) were growing where they shouldn’t be. As a result, they were told, that the lungs wouldn’t grow to normal size and she was at risk for a laundry list of complications that ended with the statement that she had about a 40-50% chance of survival. 

Finley was in the fortunate 50% that survive. It took 19 days for her to stabilize enough for her to have her repair surgery and after 30 days more in the NICU, she was able to come home. Liz started the Foundation to be able to offer the same support that the Dooley family received during their journey. The CDH families that came along side and supported and shared their experiences is what made all the difference. Their friends and community that walked along side them. They felt that everyone should have that same support when experiencing this kind of earth shattering diagnosis. 

MISSION:

The mission of the Ladybug CDH Foundation is raise awareness of the birth defect congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) and raise money to donate towards research and to provide financial assistance to families in the Pacific Northwest impacted by CDH. 

This is achieved by partnering with local medical offices and providing care packages upon new diagnosis or NICU admittance, gift cards for coffee and meals, covering hotel and gas expenses for families traveling for care, and sometimes helping with funeral expenses. To date, the Ladybug CDH Foundation has donated over $500,000 towards medical research across various institutions including OHSU, Seattle Children's Hospital, CHOP, University of Texas at Houston, DHREAMS Study - Columbia University, and Boston Children's Hospital. 


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 Ladybug CDH Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit: Tax ID: 45-4199065

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