Mrs. Rodowick Im afraid to tell you this, but your son has a cleft lip, those words will burn in my heart forever. The 28th of June had started as a day of great anticipation, a time when I had given birth to my firstborn and ended with the birth of a beautiful baby boy and a million questions.
Having learned this very shocking fact and with a great range of emotions I set out on a mission to find out everything I could about cleft lip and I wanted to share what I learned and a few interesting things.
Cleft lip occurs in about 1 in 700 births, is the fourth most common birth defect, the first most common facial birth defect and, most importantly, the most common birth defect. However, most of these armed parents feel completely alone.
A cleft lip is caused when the lips are not joined early in pregnancy, usually during the first 7-9 weeks of labor. Its cause is not known and can be speculated to be due to many genetic factors, smoking, certain drugs and environmental factors. Many experts agree that the mother has no control and try not to delay the causes or place the blame on herself.
When it comes to feeding a cleft lip baby, it can be frustrating and stubborn at first, most babies can be breast fed. bottle fed without any problems although sometimes some tweaking can be done like the use of cross-cut nipples or a bottle with a nipple with a cut that allows the baby to control the flow of milk. If you have problems in feeding your baby it is important to contact your doctor who will either have great suggestions or a specialist you refer to someone who can help you in your time of frustration and expense.
Most hospitals will have to see a team of doctors right away. There are many different people in this team and it can be overwhelming at first, but the best part is that everyone works together and knows what is going on in your bay plan Usually the team includes a pediatrician, a plastic surgeon, a speech therapist, a geneticist, and a dentist or orthodontist. They will go over treatment plans and work with you to achieve the best possible results for your baby.
The most interesting thing I learned is that there are many celebrities who were born with cleft lips, the list includes Cheech Marin, Tom Brokaw , Stacius Neither Keech nor Joaquin Phoenix.
The cracks are treatable, and you’re not alone.
