Cleft Palate

Restoring smiles

Cleft palate occurs when the tissues of the lip or palate don't form in early in pregnancy.

This leaves an opening between the roof of the mouth and the nasal cavity.

Cleft palate is a devastating disability because it is visually disfiguring and the social stigma can force children into hiding.

In some countries, these children are called Ajok, which means cursed.

Worse, the cleft can keep babies from sucking or swallowing properly, so malnutrition and starvation are common.

Here at cbm, we believe all children are beautiful, and our surgeons are the experts in restoring smiles.

Zawadii's Story

Being pretty can mean so much to a little girl, but Zawadii's beauty was marred by her cleft lip and palate. Badly disfigured, her childhood was filled with scorn and heartbreaking rejection.

As a baby, Zawadii's cleft palate made it difficult to feed her. Her growth was sapped. So was her strength against illness.

Then Zawadii became old enough to recognise the horror in people's eyes. They called her a monster.

Zawadii's childhood should have been full of smiles. Her future should have been full of opportunity. Instead, children weren't allowed to play with her, as if her disability was contagious or a curse. She was even barred from school.

When a cbm field worker found Zawadii, we gave her the operation her stunned family could never afford on their own. A week later Zawadii arrived home from hospital. She was beautiful.

Now she can go to school. She can make friends. She will not be an outcast and she will never be called a monster ever again.

Facts about cleft palate

• More boys than girls have a cleft lip, while more girls have cleft palate without a cleft lip.

• Clefts can occur on one side of the mouth (unilateral clefting) or on both sides of the mouth (bilateral clefting).