Hello Everyone!!!

[bestdean]

Hi there. My name is Beth. My daughter, Hannah, was born on the 10th of April 2007. She has an incomplete unilateral cleft lip, it is on the right hand side (her right).

We had no warning of this. When she was born, by c-section, the doctor told us that she had a slight cleft. Immediately I asked him if I would be able to breast-feed her. He said that it shouldn't be a problem because it was not the palate.

Shortly after Hannah was born, I admitted to my husband that I thought I saw it on the 3-D scan. He said he thought he saw it too, but neither of us wanted to say anything because we didn't want to worry over something we thought might not be there.

We live in South Africa, so things are done a little differently here than any of you might have experienced. Our pead was very supportive after Hannah was born. I was still numb from the spinal block so I couldn't really support my husband. Hannah was put in an incubator for about 1 hour after birth, so I hadn't really held her properly. Steven, my husband, kept coming back to me, tellling me what the pead had said, how easily her lip could be fixed, that all was going to be fine. He told us that the plastic surgeon who dealt with these in our area was away and we could probably see him the following week.

When the pead phoned our plastic surgeon he insisted on driving back to see us, as he said it was too traumatic and wanted to re-assure us personally. What a god-send!!! He really is a wonderful man. He encouraged us to cry, and told us that it was ok... We could be ourselves around him... It was amazing...

Eventually, Hannah was brought to me when she was 2 hours old... All I wanted was to hold her, and feed her... I needed to check that she could feed. I was beside myself with worry about that!!! When Steve came back to the ward with her after her bath, I put her straight on the breast, and she started sucking, strong and hard!!! What a relief, I could feed her, we had no problems there...

Hannah is going for her corrective surgery next month. Probably on the 25th of July... She is going to look even more beautiful than she does now!!!

I am battling to syringe feed her, which I have to get used to because for a few days after the surgery she is not allowed to suck. It is so traumatic to have this child screaming for food and not be able to give it to her the way she wants it...

Have you gone through the same thing? What did you do?

[pkett2]

Welcome to the group! My Dino was born with the same thing. I'm very surprised that they told you that you can't breast feed after surgery. We had his surgery & I feed him about 4-5 hours after. They let me go home with him when I thought he was nursing the way he should. Your breast is soft so the baby lips will form around it. I really don't understand what your Dr.'s reasons are. Good Luck!

[bestdean]

The Dr is worried that it will put too much pressure on the sutures when she sucks and might cause them to burst... Until the stitches are out, she will have to be fed by syringe and eventually by bottle... I hope this won't go on for longer than a week!!! She loves the breast, but takes a bottle if she has to, but the syringe just upsets her...

[pkett2]

Dino had dissolve able stitches on his lip & Durmabond between the lip & the nose. The only suture he had was on the top of his nose. Well good luck with the feedings. It doesn't sound like fun!