Baby Soft Cleft Palate

They can also be diagnosed after the baby is born especially cleft palate.

Baby soft cleft palate. The palateis made up of two main parts a bony component calledthe hard palate and a muscular component called the soft palate. The palate is important for feeding and speaking. Eating can be very difficult for a newborn if the soft palate is not properly formed. Difficulty feeding a baby with a cleft lip and palate may be unable to breastfeed or feed from a normal bottle because they cannot form a good seal with their mouth.

A baby born with a complete cleft palate has an opening in the roof of their mouth that runs across both the soft and hard palates. This cleft can make feeding hard for your baby. Clefts occur more often in children of asian latino or native. Most babies with a cleft of the palate are not able to use standard bottles or solely breast feed because they cannot create the suction needed to draw the milk out of the nipple.

Breastfeeding your baby with a cleft palate. The soft palate is located at the back of the mouth and is made up of soft tissue. Careful examination with a bright light and a tongue depressor is required in the case of a posterior soft palate cleft or sub mucous cleft of the palate. Cleft palate and cleft lip also referred to as orofacial defects are birth defects that affect more than 7 000.

Cleft lip with or without cleft palate affects one in 700 babies annually and is the fourth most common birth defect in the u s. A cleft is an opening or split in the palate. Normally the tissues that make up the lip and palate fuse together in the second and third months of pregnancy. Orofacial clefts especially cleft lip with or without cleft palate can be diagnosed during pregnancy by a routine ultrasound.

A cleft lip and cleft palate can cause a number of issues particularly in the first few months after birth before surgery is done. Cleft lip and palate information cleft palate cleft palate clefts of the palate can vary in appearance and severity. There can be a cleft of the soft palate alone or a cleftof both the soft and hard palate. The degree of difficulty involved in diagnoses of cleft lip and palate depends on the severity of the condition.

Cleft lip and cleft palate occur when tissues in the baby s face and mouth don t fuse properly. In the presence of a cleft palate breastfeeding in the traditional manner is often not recommended but there are alternative methods for providing breast milk to your baby. Cleft lip palate is obvious in more severe cases. However sometimes certain types of cleft palate for example submucous cleft palate and bifid uvula might not be diagnosed until later in life.