Cleft Lip, Cleft Palate

A cleft lip is a birth defect that occurs in approximately 1 in 800 live births. Cleft lips are more common in babies of Asian, Latino or Native American descent.

During fetal development, the right and left sides of the lip and palate normally grow together. A cleft lip occurs when a baby is born with a separation in the upper lip, which can extend upwards into the child's nose. A cleft palate occurs when there is a separation in the roof of the mouth, or palate.

A child can have both a cleft lip and a cleft palate. A child that is born with a cleft lip or palate is at an increased risk of chronic ear infections, hearing loss and abnormal speech. Treatment for a cleft lip/palate will include surgery. Most doctors recommend doing the surgery when the child is around 10 weeks old.

An ultrasound or MRI can diagnose the condition prenatally or a doctor will confirm the diagnosis at birth.

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/velocario.htm

JParker12379 - 66 days ago.
My oldest son Jason was born with cleft lip & palate. My FIL had cleft lip, my husbands cousin had cleft palate. My daughter had the nueral markings for the gene but did not have cleft lip or palate. I imagine that since she knowingly carries the gene the chances of her having a cleft lip/palate baby are increased. Our nephew also showed the nueral marking for the gene, but no signs of cleft lip/palate. I will find out if this baby has cl/cp or the gene for it at 18 weeks. The statistics from my gentic couseling show 1 in 400 babies in the world have either cl/cp hard or soft tissue.

Melanie07 - 88 days ago.
My mom was born with cleft lip. She had five of us. My youngest brother was born with cleft lip. The rest of us didn't have it. I am not sure of the %. Our was 1 in 5. I did find out that taking Claritin during the first 12 weeks increases the chance. I made sure to not take it even longer. I finally had to take it over halfway through my pregnancy to be able to breath. All my brother's and sister have babies without cleft lip. There is a chance but not a great chance. I would just let your doc know. They were able to tell on the class 2 ultrasound if there were any problems. If your baby is born with it, they can fix it pretty good now. You can't even tell my brother had it.

seven - 91 days ago.
My friend has family history (her brother) of this condition and her baby came out with no issues at all. Healthy baby boy. They told her that there is a 50% chance he will have it and 50% chance he won't. Just notify your doctor about it so they can check for it.

michelle1986 - 100 days ago.
I was born with a Cleft-Palate,an I talk normally but i have hearing loss an bad ear infections that don't really go away my question is is this something i will pass on to my child when we conceive one ?what is the % of this happining? im so scared.