A Beautiful Child

Virginia Smiles, an organization for families of children with clefts in Virginia, has this wonderful video that I would definitely recommend to new/expecting parents. You can view it here. It is mostly interviews with parents who share their thoughts and experiences, and is really touching. Thank you to Anna for sharing this!

Enjoy!

Say What? ... Cleft Vocab

There are a lot of new terms that come along with learning about clefts. For brief explanations, there is a great glossary at the Cleft Line site, here.

I also find a lot of more thorough explanations on Wikipedia, though they aren't generally explained with reference to clefts.

Join our group!

If you have a child with a cleft being treated at Primary Children's Medical Center, please join our Yahoo! and Facebook group! It is a great way to meet others, become aware of events, and get quick, personal, specific advise. We all benefit from sharing our experiences and helping and supporting each other. There are also lots of pictures posted if you would like to see the work of the PCMC surgeons. Go here and sign up on Yahoo!, and here to sign up on Facebook.

What is a Cleft?

There is a fairly thorough explanation about the nature of cleft lips and palates on Wikipedia. Anna also gives a great explanation on her blog, "Cleft Notes," here. Essentially, a cleft is an opening that is left in the lip and/or the palate (roof of the mouth) when they fail to fuse normally during gestation. It occurs in about 1 in 500 to 750 births, but that number is closer to 1 in 450 in Utah. It is the most common birth defect. The exact cause is unknown, though the condition can be hereditary. It is generally said that some combination of genetics and environmental factors likely cause clefts.