Closing the gap

Clefts are not life threatening and children born with the defect can lead normal lives once treated. THE sight of a baby born with a cleft lip can be shocking for parents. Some instantly blame it on the father having gone fishing before the birth, or the mother not cutting chicken at the joint, or even a full moon! Zuraini Ghazali: ‘If one parent has a cleft, or a sibling is born with one, the baby has a 25% chance of having it.’ These folklore are far from accurate. The truth is, clefts are not life threatening and once treated, brings back a smile to both parents and child. “A cleft child can live a perfectly normal life,” said Zainal Azhar Ahmad, chairperson of the Cleft Lip and Palate Association of Malaysia (Clapam). There are three types of cleft occurrences – cleft lip, cleft palate, and cleft lip and palate. The... [read full story]