First, understand the birth defect cleft lip and palate 1, and understand the basic definition. In the early stage of pregnancy, all areas of the face develop independently and then integrate together. The lips are usually closed after 5 or 6 weeks of pregnancy, and the mandible is 10 weeks. If some parts are not assembled correctly, they will break.
2. What is cleft lip? Cleft lip is a gap between the upper lip of the mouth and the nose, which may sometimes extend to the nasal cavity. One-sided cleft lip is called unilateral cleft lip, and two-sided cleft lip is called bilateral cleft lip.
When feeding infants with cleft lip and palate, it is best to take an upright posture. 3. What is cleft palate? Cleft palate is a gap caused by the lack of fusion of jaws at both ends of the top of the mouth The front end of the jaw is called hard jaw and the back end is called soft jaw. You can feel it by sliding your tongue. Cleft palate may be so big that the whole top is separated.
4. The cause of cleft lip and palate is basically related to genetic and environmental factors, and the degree of influence depends on how many people are in the family, how close the relationship is and the severity of cleft palate, but there may be no one in the family.
Further reading: preventing baby rabbit lips? Folic acid supplementation for pregnant women
5. Is there a cure? Cleft lip and cleft palate usually need comprehensive treatment combining surgery, dentistry and orthodontics. Because cleft lip and palate will affect the pronunciation of speech, supplementary language therapy is needed in the later stage.
Second, how to feed the baby with cleft lip and palate 1. If the baby has cleft lip, breastfeeding only needs a little adjustment, and the baby may encounter the trouble of air sealing around * * * *, but you can still find the skills of sucking slowly.
2, the baby's bilateral cleft lip If the baby has bilateral cleft lip, breastfeeding will be very difficult, so you need to do surgery first, and then try breastfeeding after the wound heals to help the baby suck smoothly.
Extended reading: causes and prevention of cleft lip and palate in infants
3. The baby's soft jaw is cracked. If the baby has only one soft jaw cracked, then he should be able to suck with the front of the hard jaw. In some cases, special squeeze bottles can also be used for breastfeeding.
4, cleft lip and palate If the baby has cleft lip and palate, you can't directly suck breast milk from the chest, you need to use a squeeze bottle to feed. When breastfeeding, try to make the baby stand upright and feed slowly, which can reduce the outflow of breast milk from the nose.