How many people have cleft lip

Smoking or drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Women who binge drink during the first weeks of pregnancy are more likely to have a baby with a cleft lip or cleft palate than other women.

Binge drinking is when you drink four or more drinks in 2 to 3 hours. Not getting enough nutrients , like folic acid , before and during pregnancy.

Folic acid is a vitamin that every cell in your body needs for healthy growth and development. If you take folic acid before pregnancy and during early pregnancy, it can help protect your baby from cleft lip and palate and birth defects of the brain and spine called neural tube defects.

Having diabetes before pregnancy. Diabetes is a condition in which your body has too much sugar called glucose in the blood. Diabetes before pregnancy is also called preexisting diabetes or type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Taking certain medicines during pregnancy. Epilepsy is a seizure disorder that affects how the nerve cells in your brain work. A seizure is when the whole body or parts of the body move without control. Being obese during pregnancy. Having certain infections during pregnancy, like rubella also called German measles.

Take folic acid. Before pregnancy, take a multivitamin with micrograms of folic acid in it every day. During pregnancy, take a prenatal vitamin with micrograms of folic acid in it every day. Alcohol includes beer, wine and liquor. Get a preconception checkup. Get to a healthy weight before pregnancy and talk to your provider about gaining a healthy amount of weight during pregnancy. Talk to your provider to make sure any medicine you take is safe during pregnancy.

When you do get pregnant, get early and regular prenatal care. Some adults who've had a cleft lip or palate repair may be self-conscious or unhappy about their appearance.

Your GP may refer you back to an NHS cleft centre for further treatment and support if there are any ongoing issues. Most cases of cleft lip or palate are a one-off and it's unlikely you'll have another child with the condition. The chances of another child being born with a cleft or of a parent passing the condition to their child can be higher in cases related to a genetic condition. For example, a parent with 22q11 deletion syndrome DiGeorge syndrome has a 1 in 2 chance of passing the condition to their child.

This helps scientists look for better ways to prevent and treat this condition. You can opt out of the register at any time. Find out more about the register. Page last reviewed: 13 August Next review due: 13 August A bilateral cleft lip or palate affects both sides of the mouth.

Any one of a variety of factors can come into play to determine if a baby is born with a cleft lip or cleft palate. In most instances, there is no single explanation, but a combination of many factors acting together that results in a cleft lip or palate.

However, there are cases which are due to a more comprehensive genetic syndrome that often includes other birth defects. The geneticist evaluates every new patient to determine if the cleft is isolated or part of an underlying syndrome. Isolated cleft lip with or without cleft palate and isolated cleft palate or due to multifactorial causation. However, sometimes certain types of cleft palate for example, submucous cleft palate and bifid uvula might not be diagnosed until later in life.

Surgery to repair a cleft lip usually occurs in the first few months of life and is recommended within the first 12 months of life. Surgery to repair a cleft palate is recommended within the first 18 months of life or earlier if possible. Children born with orofacial clefts might need other types of treatments and services, such as special dental or orthodontic care or speech therapy.

With treatment, most children with orofacial clefts do well and lead a healthy life. Some children with orofacial clefts may have issues with self-esteem if they are concerned with visible differences between themselves and other children. Parent-to-parent support groups can prove to be useful for families of babies with birth defects of the head and face, such as orofacial clefts. The images are in the public domain and thus free of any copyright restrictions.

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