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.

Comments: Cleft-Lip,-Cleft-Palate
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spidermansmama - 330 days ago.
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Nattashia*BLUE* - 388 days ago.
I was born with a bilateral cleft and palate. Ive had many surguries and I got maybe 1 more left and Im 25! I have a daughter and she was not born with either a cleft or palate. Im 25 weeks pregnant now and I went to see a genetics person and they did a deep ultrasound and determined that my little man also will not have a cleft lip! Im not sure if it runs in my family or not bc I dont know who my dad is but its deff not on my mothers side.

robbal@aol.com - 655 days ago.
Hi, I am a 46 year old woman, who was born with a total cleft palate, heart disease, congenital vaginal agenesis, and club feet. Regarding my palate surgery, I was operated on when I was 18 months old. I don't remember it but because part of the treatment was to desensitize me to hospitals, nurses and doctors, and to not be with my mom for two weeks, I do think I've had a much easier time with various surgeries I've had than others I know. I am very strong and independent. I have had hearing loss issues all my life, and severe earaches as a child. I have had plastic surgery on my ears, and wear hearing aids today, and have a 50% loss. I had speech lessons for three years in elementary school and I played the clarinet for about 5 years to keep my palate soft. My vaginal agenesis was not discovered until I was 13 and rushed into the hospital because I was having severe abdominal cramping. They discovered I had a very small, abnormal uterus and my menses had backed up and infected my blood. I guess some of these birth defects might be related but I'm not 100% sure. Just wanted to let parents know that sometimes what seems like tragedy is actually a bridge to triumph. I don't think I would be able to appreciate my life or what I have done within it, had I not been born the way I was. I actually am a singer in a rock and roll band in my part time and a teacher/business consultant. I think my cleft palate issues were tougher on my parents than they were for me. My mom said it was very tough to put me in baby bondage (to keep my fingers out of my mouth) and to watch me get thinner because she couldn't feed me. She knew what to do but emotionally it was very hard on her. She wanted to breast feed and I think it through her for a loop when she could not.

mommykeisha - 789 days ago.
Im 20 weeks pregnant i just found out two days ago that my lil man has a double cleft lip. I dont know yet if he has that and a cleft palate we will find out in 4 weeks if he also has that to. I am so scared for him. I dont know how this happend there is no one on my side or my husbands side that had this. Can someone help me feel at ease with this.

boomerette - 942 days ago.
I have 3 boys, my 3rd had the double cleft lip. The plastic surgeon who did his surgery was amazing!!!! He also said that is 1/200 000 who get cleft lip randomly. WE are trying for a fourth. And in all honestly my son only had the cleft lip and NOT palate. But just like frogbabyshae said nothing a little plastic surgery wont fix. My son is now 2 and those who didnt know him as a baby dont usually even notice. It is amazing what they can do wtih technology and the advancement in surgeries. I was totally please and amazed with the results. Any of you who are conerned and would like to see before and after pictures please email me. My son had it done quite early on. WE didnt know before he was born that he had it but in some ways I think that was better. I probably would have blown the whole thing out of proportion. All in all it turned out to be fine. The nurses&dr's were great about it. Sent a specialist up right away. He had his surgery at 4months and did great. I was glad it wasnt the heart or something that could put his life at risk. Anyways I know this isnt easy for anyone to hear your child may have a cleft lip or palate but Dr's are great and know what they are dong and kids are resilient when it comes to surgery!!!

frogbabyshae@hotmail.com - 944 days ago.
hello :) My father has cleft lip and palate .... I also have cleft lip and palate ..... and my first born (girl) did not have it ...but my second (boy) did have the double cleft lip and double palate ..... i am now about 6weeks pregnant with my third and dont know if this one has or dont have it .... I just want to say that if your baby has it .... dont flip out :) with a little bit of plastic surgery your little bundle of joy will be perfect :) just pick and choose your surgeon ...dont settle on the first one .... try and find one that has a pasion in helping and has plenty of experance .... if you live in or around toledo i highly recommend Dr Hunyadi ...he did a wonderful job on my baby now 3 yrs old :)

angel1979 - 1013 days ago.
I just wanted to comment if anyone here is TTC with a Cleft Lip and or Cleft Palate or has questions about passing the gene. I was born with a cleft lip (Bilateral) and cleft palate. The gene was passed on to me from my fathers side. I have 4 sisters and 2 of them also have the gene. Me and my cleft sister's have all had children, there are 7 from the three of us and out of that 7 children, 5 of them are cleft or carry the cleft gene. The only thing that i can stress is FOLIC ACID...I was on 1mg or 1000mcg. The two children that were not cleft we were both on the same prenatal drug that is a rx and it has 1 mg or 1000mcg of folic acid in it. We were on them for a while before getting pregnant and i will continue to stay on enough folic acid even when i am not TTC. Please let me know if you have any questions as we have much experience with this gene and have been studied and have studied it ourself.

nenaloe - 1031 days ago.
@ mandi, im not sure too much of the odds either but my sons father had a double cleft and so far only his boys have inherited it,he has other kids from another relationship, our daughter did not have it or any of his other daughters, so im guessing even if u and ur sis have it, that the gene prob wont be as strong as comming from ur dad to u and the chances of ur baby being born with this isnt as likely or may not be as bad as urs. also, its more common in certain races, my sons father is half native american, so they present a stronger gene. my son got lucky an only had the soft cleft tho his brother, from a different mom who also is part native american had the double like their father. just make sure u get plenty of vitamins the doc said this was a big factor of why it happens, also stress, so try to think positive thoughts.

nenaloe - 1031 days ago.
@ june....my son is now 7 and was born with a soft cleft palat and after surgery it was horrible for him as he was already 2 yrs old. we had to feed everything blended thro a straw, but after a few weeks, we were able to switch to softer foods on a spoon, it all depends on the healing of the mouth when it will be over, im not quite sure how long the pain lasted because my son lost his abillity to speek,and all he could do was whine, he had to learn to talk all over again , and his arms were in casts for the entire healing period to prevent him from putting his hands, objects in his mouth. this made him uncomfortable and like i said, whiney. srry cant help you too much in that area, but things will get better im glad to hear that ur surgery was done sooner so u shouldnt have the speech probs my son did, god bless and good luck there wont be need for future surgeries.

mandi86 - 1175 days ago.
I was born with a cleft lip and palate and completely comfortable with it. Luckily mine wasnt as terrible. I'm expecting my first child in Septemeber (which im very excited for) However I'm wonding what the chances of my baby also have a cleft lip and palate? It seems like its a pretty common gene in my family so i'm afraid my chances are going to be extremely high. My dad and my sister have it. I was told the male gene is more dominant (hence why both his girls have it). The father of my baby does not have it and it does not run in his family. Anyone have any simialr situation or know the odds of my baby having one. I've just talked to my Gyno about it but she dont seem to know too much about this. Any help would be great! Wish me luck! :)

june2309 - 1218 days ago.
My 6 mo old daughter just had her soft palate cleft repaired a few days ago, its so hard seeing her in pain. how long will it last and is there anyway i can help her to eat more? i am so sad and dont know what else to do

RobinG - 1310 days ago.
(((hugs))) I dont know anyone in my own family but I have cared for a little boy for 2 years that has Velocardiofacial Syndrome (there is a forum here on it) his mom said the syndrome is relatively new in like the last 10-15 years I think. zac has a cleft palette and other concerns and was thought to not survive and he is 5 and doing amazing well!! He gets early intervention and it has done wonders. Sadly I know trisomy 18 is a devastating thing and prayers it isnt that ~ but if it is VCFS and that is what has caused the cleft there is hope ~ (((hugs)))

janice55 - 1310 days ago.
hi i was just wondering is there anyone on here that got a very bad diagnosis when they discovered their baby may have a cleft lip and palate....im 18 weeks pregnant and doctors discovered at my 16 scan that baby has severe cleft lip and palate and that chromosonal problems (trisomy 13 or 18) maybe the cause. i had an amniosenthesis done and still waiting the results...even if this comes back clear i need 2 get a MRI scan on the babys brain to rule out other syndromes as doctors also think baby has Holoprosencephaly which is devasting news...im praying that my baby only has cleft problems as this doesnt seem such a problem to us compared to these other disorders....so just wondering did anyone go through something similar and their baby was just fine apart from cleft problems?? im really worried about my poor baby so any advice appreciated xxx

jenmomma - 1425 days ago.
My first child (age 4 1/2 now) was born with a cleft of the soft palate only. It wasn't diagnosed until after delivery. She only required special bottles as treatment until she turned 1 and they did the surgical repair. Repair was perfect. She took about 8 months of speech therapy around age 3 and now has perfect speech (better than most 4 year olds!). She had reccurrent ear infections until about age 1 when they put in tubes during her cleft surgery. Since then, no issues and hearing seems to be fine. We did a level 2 ultrasound during my 2nd pregnancy (and will do the same for my current/3rd pregnancy). No issues with my son. They said a soft palate cleft might be hard to spot on ultrasound, but they looked anyway. Overall, for us it was a relatively minor defect and we felt blessed that it was her only issue and we didn't have any of the cosmetic or structural issues to deal with. Also found out when she was 8 months old that I had breast cancer, so we looked at her cleft as a blessing in disguise as my surgeon said I probably wouldn't have felt the lump in my breast if we'd been breastfeeding. Everything happens for a reason, right!

BellaRaysMommy - 1491 days ago.
My son had a cleft lip and palate, he is now 15 and is great. He does have a scare where the lip was repaired but they continue to work on this to make it better. And next month he has his final nose reconstruction, he is so excited about this one. He has done wonderful with his speech, never having to have a theripist or anything. I have two other children both girls, neither were effected with this problem and I am currently pregnant with my 4th a boy and they confirmed he was not effected either. My son was so excited to hear his brother was not going to have the same problem. Having this defect has it own list of issues, but all in all it is not so bad?

debbiec - 1503 days ago.
My son was born on 12-6-08 with an incomplete bilateral cleft lip and a complete cleft palate. Before he was born we were so worried and didnt know really what to expect but as soon as our little man came out he was beautiful and perfect in our eyes. When he was almost 3 months he had his first suregery to repair the lip, his nose, and to put some eartubes in; it was a very sucessful surgery (has a minimal scar) and he is now almost fully recovered (still has some swelling). His next surgery, to repair the palate, will be in about 7 months and that one is the hard one.

surprisemom - 1522 days ago.
My best friend has a 2 and a half year old boy with a cleft lip and palate and the cleft lip was clearly visible in ultrasound pictures later in her pregnancy. I think it was at the ultrasound to determine the baby's sex that it was first suspected and then confirmed at later ones, but am not sure. He has had two surgeries since then but it really looks just fine now and his speech and hearing are good too.

karenbg - 1522 days ago.
I am told by my doctor that an ultrasound can detect cleft lip but not cleft palate...has anyone had cleft palate diagnosed prenatally?

2ndtimeblessed - 1541 days ago.
I am a 36 weeks with a bilateral cleft lip baby boy. Although it was not a good news I concur with daniellel there are more complicated conditions. No mom wants a news of this kind but we are very happy and nursery ready expecting our new prince. I confess, lately I am very anxious, but ready to meet my new love!!

jenniferwilkerson09 - 1570 days ago.
hi iam jennifer i had a son that was born with cleft lip and palate and iam due in july for my 4 th child and iam worried about that is it in the genes are is it something that happens before birth and my son was bron with the extra cromson 15 and doctors wont give me any infromation about what happend to himwhat can i do to prevent it again for this child worried mother that for any information

daniellel - 1593 days ago.
my doctor told me My baby may have a cleft lip and possibly palate. :( needles to say that was a downer. But I'm trying to think positive, because honestly it could be 100 times worse. My baby is still growing and is very healthy. 20 weeks now! Half way there!

mamabritt - 1706 days ago.
Iam new to this site but Iam really worried that my baby may be born with cleft lip or cleft pallet or maybe even both :(....The father to my baby was born with simple cleft lip and cleft pallet, you cant really tell that he had it now. But i do wonder if it is a genetic trait or not cause i have been told it is and that it aint

catbertie - 1721 days ago.
My now 2.5 year old was born with a simple cleft lip and avelolar cleft in her gum line. She was adopted and we received her at 13 months old - no surgery. She had her lip repair at 16 months and has no speech problems and is talking in full sentences. I know that cleft can be very scary, but with today's surgery, it's really not a big deal anymore.

babymamma88 - 1723 days ago.
I was born with a cleft lip and palate and feared that my baby might be born with it too because I heard it was genetic. But after speaking to my brother today who is an MD I found out that clefts being hereditary is only a theory and that its not true. He says the congenital birth defects have no real way of being inherited and if it happens to the child of someone who has it then its pure coincidence. So we'll see... my gyno sent me to have a 3d focused sono to see if my baby girl will be born with a cleft. Something inside me tells me she wont be... but itll be fun to have a 3d either way :)

auhwie31 - 1724 days ago.
Hi Im Geraldine and new here. Im 26 weeks pregnant and thru numerous u/s we found out that our only baby girl (we have 2 boys) has a cleft lip and possibly cleft tooth & palate (we will find out when she is born). We were heartbroken. My husband's niece had a bilateral cleft lip and had gone thru various surgeries she is 24 now. and has no other defect. I am so scared that my baby's hearing would be impaired or her speech. Does anyone here had this situation with any of their children or close relatives? I am still in shock but thru God's help, have accepted it. Please pray for Rhea Grace (my baby girl). Hugs, Auhwie