Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital and the American Heart Association are celebrating American Heart Month by knitting and crocheting red hats for all babies born at the Lincoln hospital in February.

The Little Hats Big Hearts project raises awareness of heart disease, the leading killer of Americans, and congenital heart defects, the most common type of birth defect in the country and the leading killer of infants with birth defects.

Volunteers across the nation have knitted and crocheted nearly 3,000 hats that will be given to all babies born at 46 Illinois hospitals during February.

Congenital heart defects are structural problems with the heart present at birth. They result when a mishap occurs soon after conception during heart development, often before the mother is aware she is pregnant. Congenital heart defects affect approximately one in every 125 babies every year in the United States alone.

For more information on Little Hats Big Hearts, visit Heart.org/LittleHatsBigHearts.