The lip forms between the fourth and seventh weeks of pregnancy. As a baby develops during pregnancy, body tissue and special cells from each side of the head grow toward the center of the face and join together to make the face. This joining of tissue forms the facial features, like the lips and mouth. A cleft lip happens if the tissue that makes up the lip does not join completely before birth. This results in an opening in the upper lip. The opening in the lip can be a small slit or it can be a large opening that goes through the lip into the nose. One or both sides of the lip, or extremely rarely, the middle of the lip, might have a cleft lip. Cleft palates can occur in children who have cleft lips.
In this post, we’ll also discuss cleft lip causes and how to prevent cleft lip and palate during pregnancy.
How Often Is A Cleft Lip
The roof of the mouth (palate) is formed between the sixth and ninth weeks of pregnancy. A cleft palate happens if the tissue that makes up the roof of the mouth does not join together completely during pregnancy. For some babies, both the front and back parts of the palate are open. For other babies, only part of the palate is open.
Other Problems
Children with a cleft lip, whether present or absent, or a cleft palate alone, frequently struggle to eat and speak correctly, and they are susceptible to ear infections. They might also experience issues with their teeth or their hearing.
In the first few weeks of pregnancy, a baby’s mouth and face form and structure start to take shape:
The two sides of the upper lip fuse together sometime in the fifth or sixth week.
The roof of the mouth is established during the eighth or ninth week.
However, when something disrupts one or both of these processes, the result is often condition called cleft lip and/or a cleft palate.
- A cleft lip is a split, or cleft, in the skin of the upper lip. This defect can range in size from a tiny, almost imperceptible hole to a very large opening that includes the top gum and top jaw.
- A cleft palate is an opening in the roof of the mouth. This opening can go through the bony hard palate around the top row of teeth; through the fleshy soft palate at the back of the mouth; or through both parts.
Several kids have both cleft lips and cleft palates.. If the defect only occurs on one side, it is called unilateral. If it involves both sides, the cleft lip and cleft palate is bilateral.
Cleft lip and cleft palate can present a number of challenges for a child, including possible:
- feeding issues
- dental and orthodontic problems
- speech and language difficulties
- hearing impairment
- social and self-esteem challenges
Because cleft lip and cleft palate can vary widely in severity from child to child, treatment options also encompass a broad spectrum. A baby with a very minor, unilateral cleft lip, for example, might only need one procedure, while an infant with a more involved cleft that runs through both sides of his palate may require many different interventions throughout their life into the teenage years or early adulthood.
You can rest assured that — regardless of the extent of your child’s cleft lip and cleft palate — there is plenty of cause for hope: These conditions are very manageable. In fact, thanks to recent advances in diagnostics and care, treatment can often shortly after birth.
Here at Boston Children’s, our multidisciplinary Cleft Lip and Palate Program is designed to meet the needs of children of all ages and with all variations of cleft lip and cleft palate. No matter your child’s specific circumstances, we are ready to help them — and to include you and your family in the treatment process at every step of the way.
Cleft Lip And Palate Causes
We know that cleft lip and cleft palate are congenital defects — which means they are present at birth — and that they involve a disruption to the formation of the fetus’s top lip and/or roof of the mouth. However, no one knows exactly why these disruptions take place.
It is believed that cleft lip and cleft palate may be genetic conditions (resulting from an error in the genes). Although this is often true, not all children with cleft lip and palate have family members who also have the disorder.
Scientists believe that some instances of cleft lip and cleft palate may happen because of something that affected the mother during pregnancy, including:
- taking certain medications
- using tobacco or alcohol
- vitamin deficiency
- viral illness
Finally, in rare cases, a child’s cleft lip and cleft palate may be related to a syndrome such as Van der Woude syndrome, Stickler syndrome, or Kabuki syndrome.
What signs of cleft lip and cleft palate are there?
Nearly all babies with cleft lip and cleft palate are diagnosed at birth (or even before, through prenatal ultrasound) because the defects are readily apparent.
In rare cases, a child may have a cleft palate that only involves her soft palate (the fleshy tissue at the back of her mouth) and isn’t evident on an initial visual exam. The first sign of a problem in these babies is usually difficulty feeding (an inability to latch on to the breast or bottle nipple, or to use consistent suction while nursing).
How To Prevent Cleft Lip And Palate During Pregnancy
Every cell in your body requires the nutrient folic acid for proper growth and development.
If you take folic acid before getting pregnant and during the first trimester, it can help shield your unborn child against birth issues like neural tube abnormalities and cleft lip and palate.
diabetes prior to conception.
When the blood has an excessive amount of the type of sugar called glucose, diabetes is a condition.
Type 1 or type 2 diabetes that occurs before to conception is often referred to as preexisting diabetes.