Antenatal Diagnosis
If you’ve just had a diagnosis of cleft, either at a scan or after your baby was born, your local hospital will have passed your details to the Northern and Yorkshire Regional Cleft Lip and Palate Service, based at Leeds Children’s hospital.
At this time it is not uncommon for parents to feel upset and worry about how they will cope. At the very outset we would like to reassure you that skilled help is available to assist you and your baby
A Nurse Specialist will contact you at home and arrange a convenient time to visit. They will answer your questions and discuss any concerns that you may have. This support continues throughout your pregnancy and after the baby is born. We have produced information booklets to answer some questions that you may have, following the diagnosis of a cleft lip and/ or palate on the ultrasound scan of your baby.
Find more information in our Antenatal Diagnosis of Cleft Lip and Palate Booklet.
Cleft Lip
Clefts of the lip are not uncommon and about one in every 700 babies born each year in the UK will have a cleft involving part of the lip or palate (roof of the mouth).The cleft of the lip may be complete, involving the full length of the lip from the red margin up to the nose or it may be incomplete, involving only a part of this area. The cleft may affect one side of the upper lip (a unilateral cleft), or may affect both sides of the lip (a bilateral cleft).
If the cleft involves the gum then a further operation may be required at around 9 to 11 years of age to repair this area, to help with tooth eruption.
Find more information in our Cleft Lip Information for Parents Booklet.
Cleft Palate
A cleft palate is a gap within the roof of the mouth. The palate separates the mouth and the nose.
The area behind the teeth and gums is called the hard palate and the muscular area at the back is called the soft palate. The cleft may extend from the soft palate into the hard palate.
In some children the palate may look complete, but the muscles are not joined together. This is called a submucous cleft palate.
We have produced information booklets to answer some questions that you may have following the diagnosis of cleft palate.
Cleft Lip and Palate
Find more information in our Cleft Lip and Palate Information for Parents Booklet.
Alveolar Bone Graft
For some children who were born with a cleft lip and/or palate there may be a gap in the gum. This means the gum cannot hold on to teeth properly and they might become loose. One way of fixing the gap is to have an alveolar bone graft.
Find more information in our Alveolar Bone Graft Information Booklet.
Children and young people may also use our My Alveolar Bone Graft Plan resource.
Speech and Language Development
We have some really useful speech and language resources for patients and families.
These can be downloaded as booklets:
Psychology
The Cleft Psychology Team at Leeds supports individuals and families with any issues that may arise relating to their cleft, from initial diagnosis right through to adulthood.
Some of the things the team may help with:
- Anxiety, worries, or low mood relating to your cleft lip and/or palate
- Feeling self-conscious about the way you look or sound
- Confidence and self-esteem difficulties
- Dealing with bullying and reactions from others
- Assessment, making decisions about and preparing for treatments
- Helping parents after a cleft diagnosis
- Concerns around transition to secondary school (we have an information pack available for transition that can be requested via the email address below)
We also have a resource available as a booklet: