Here's the content of a half page information sheet that I prepared for my sister and brother-in-law to share with people when their daughter was born with cleft lip with gum involvement. At the time I prepared this I hadn't heard yet whether she had cleft palate or not. They chose to include the information with the birth announcement. Cutting and pasting the info disrupts the format, but content is what's important.
Cleft Lip/Cleft Palate
What is it? Cleft means a split. Cleft lip and/or cleft palate occurs very early in a pregnancy when the tissues that form the two sides of the palate (roof of the mouth) and/or upper lip don?t fuse together as they typically do.
How often does this occur? One in every 500-800 babies is born with a cleft.
Why does it occur? Nobody knows what causes it.
What can be done about it? Cleft lip surgery typically takes place when the baby is about 12 weeks old. Cleft palate surgery generally takes place when the baby is between 6 and 18 months old, in time for speech development.
Who? Famous people born with cleft lip/palate include: Tom Brokaw, Jesse Jackson, Annie Lennox, Mark Hamill, Jason Robards, Cheech Marin, Doc Holliday, Peyton Manning, Rita MacNeil, Stacy Keach, Wendy Harmer, and Nikki Payne
Where can one find more information about cleft lip/cleft palate?
Book for children: A Special Smile by Julie A. Graham and Patience Tumblesome
www.cleftline.org www.widesmiles.org/ct/quilt/index.html www.cleft.org
www.widesmiles.org/people/who.html
Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 4:15 am