ITS CLEFT LIP AND PALATE AWARENESS WEEK! November 8-14 each year commemorates National Cleft Awareness Week. Please LIKE AND SHARE this post to promote cleft awareness. Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate is a facial abnormality that occurs during the early stages of pregnancy while the face is forming. Clefting is the third most common birth defect and affects around 1 in 600 - 700 babies born in Australia. A cleft is a gap in the roof of the mouth (hard and/or soft palate) or the lip and gum line (alveolus). Children can have a cleft lip without a cleft palate, or a cleft palate without a cleft lip. Some children have a cleft of both the lip and the palate. Clefts are described as being unilateral (on one side) or bilateral (on both sides) of the midline. They are often diagnosed on ultrasound during pregnancy. A cleft palate alone is usually only detected after birth. The cause of a cleft is not clear. It is thought to be caused by a number of interrelated factors in the baby and the parents. They may be: environmental factors, stress, vitamin or mineral deficiencies, genetic factors, some medications. Clefts are thought to be caused by anything that may interrupt the flow of nutrients and oxygen to the foetus even momentarily. A facial cleft is often an isolated issue for a child and perhaps even the family. It comes with some other related issues such as feeding, speech and hearing. Some clefts are thought to be genetically related as they run in families. Cleft lip and palate may also be part of a more complex condition or syndrome.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 19:24:14 +0000
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