to be shocked that I was told "I didn't think cleft lip and palate happened in the UK".

[Sleeker]

By someone in the job of parenting & pregnancy journalism.

but in the nature of her profession she should surely know this neversaypie?

as i mentioned on the tv programme thread dd was born with the opposite of a cleft - an atresia.at the time we were told there was absolutely no reason why this should happen - total fluke.as far as i am aware that is still the case - ours was 1 in 30,000.def not down to any diet/lifestyle/genetic factors.

why? She's not a doctor, presumably she writes for one of those baby mags which only has about 5 stories with slight variations. You can't know about every single thing that could possibly happen to a baby. Clearly she has never come across it for work, I fail to see why you think she should have an encyclopedic knowledge of pediatric medicine.

YANBU. As has already been said, its very ignorant to say the least.

A comment I often get when I mention my son's repaired cleft palate is 'Oh you can't see it at all'. Er well you wouldn't, its in his mouth!! Lots of people don't seem to realise that a cleft lip and cleft palate can occur independently.

its really not that rare neversaypie. I'm afraid I don't agree with you at all.

1 in 700 is quite common you hardly need encyclopedic knowledge but maybe with the 5 stories etc etc

It doesn't matter if you agree, the fact of the matter seems clear.

Baby/pregnancy journalist-says shes never heard of it in the UK. So she hasn't come across it in the course of her work, obviously, or else she wouldn't have said that. Now, explain to me why she should know about something that has never come up in the course of her work?

basic gen knowledge i'd say but hey

I know this will highlight me as an idiot, but, why is hare lip offensive?
Completely geniune never hear the term before so thought id ask

Er it doesn't mean she's not come across it in her work, she was saying that she thought it didn't happen in the UK due to adverts she's seen. You're missing the point. And if she has had a baby she would know of cleft lip - unless she didn't have the 20 week anomaly scan, or had a lax sonographer who didn't explain what they were checking for. And if she hasn't had a baby but works for such a magazine, surely she should be even more keen to make sure she was well researched. It is hardly a condition that requires an 'encyclopaedic knowledge of paediatric medicine'. And wouldn't it be 'foetal' anyway if we're being picky?

Babydubs - no problem with you asking. It basically implies the mother has slept with the devil, and the offspring bears the mark of this. Or that you're comparing the child the a hare/rabbit/rodent - anything with a divided top lip.

I have twins and one has a cleft palate and the other doesn't. I haven't heard anything about it being due to lack of folic acid, and I was also told it's not to do with genetics. It's just one of those things.

Unfortunately, although it's reasonably common (1:700), the health profession never mind journalists know surprisingly little about it! DS was in SCBU for 2 weeks with feeding problems and it wasn't until he had his tongue tie (unrelated) cut at 6 weeks that his cleft palate was spotted! Explained so much. By the way it's not always spotted in the anomoly scan, particularly cleft palates.

I think it's a sadly misunderstood, and misreported condition, and would hope that a journalist who specialises in Motherhood and Newborns would know a little about it, but am not surprised that they didn't.

As I understand, the exact causes of clefts are not understood. There might be a link with folic acid and sometimes, they think, genetics play a part.

I think that there is some evidence that folic acid can reduce the incidence of cleft lip with or with out cleft palate but that it doesn't have an effect on the incidence of cleft palate on it's own. It hasn't been proven.

I don't think you need to be an expert in paediatric medicine to have a general awareness of clefts.

I have been told by my sons cleft consultant that there is no link with folic acid.

At the moment the cause is unknown

You can imagine how much angst is caused by a mother berating herself for thinking that it is her fault.

I like your thinking frogs. Me too.

Run for fun, when I found out that ds had cleft I beat myself up so badly, even though we all know now it's just one of those things, I do get weary of hearing people saying it can be caused by lifestyle or environmental factors. Tonight was the first I've heard of folic acid lowering the risk, ds consultant has never mentioned this, just said it is one of those things.

yh me too boohoo
i heard fa was meant to reduce spina biffada nothing else

Me too Boohoohoo and Sharbie.

I never knew there were any risk factors to having a baby with a cleft, and I did ask several times because I wanted to prepare my dad before DS's birth if I needed to.

The theories about drug taking and drinking are just bloody cruel. Where on earth does this stigma come from?

Hi boohoo,lomg time no speak,been dealing with reflux so cleft took a backseat for a while. DD is no 14 wks and doing fine.I didnt smoke drink or do anything else and have 4 others with no probs,i also took folic acid, I was also told it may be genetic or just one of those things.Nobody ha asked me but i bet people have speculated as to the cause.I dont relly give a fig,im just concentrating on the best for my baby.

sorry for typos btw,im tired.

Well, I suppose it's testament to how good cleft surgery is. I know a few people with repaired clefts. Nothing to see except a faint scar.

I do tend to notice it on people because I know what I'm looking for. It's a fairly common birth defect in the scheme of things (birth defects being pretty rare really).

The Smile Train adverts do make me very sad. There's no reason for any child to have an unrepaired cleft.

Hi ledkr, been thinking about how your getting on, glad things are going well with lo, sorry to hear about the reflux tho x.

Unfortunately even on MN I've heard about the ridiculous assumptions with regards to clefts. The thing is it's not just always a case of simple repair there's all the other (sometimes) associated problems, hearing, speech etc. It has had a alarge impact on my lo (and our) life.

Ledkr, my wee one suffered badly from reflux too. I think cleft palate babies have a worse time with reflux as the acid goes up into their nose lining and stings more. He was prescribed ranitidine and domperidone. The cleft surgeon was keen to get the reflux sorted prior to surgery as the last thing they want is acid coming up into the newly repaired cleft scar as it will really sting. Worth seeing your doctor/consultant if the reflux as the two medicines really worked for my DS

Dont worry its all under control,she had to have omeprazole in the end as well as gaviscon,dom peridone and still even ranitadine occasionally too.
I have a feeling she is growing out of it too,she is a lovely little girl,hardly ever cries,she jsut grimaces and squirms when refluxes. Thanks tho.
Boohoo,im sorry i never got back to you,i really have struggled with reflux as gibbering will testify,its very hard,i couldnt get out much as Dhad to be kept up for ages after a feed and was then due again!It takea a while to be confident going out with the medication too i found. Your support meant so much to me when D was born i am slowly begining to think about the surgery cos as you may remember she was so poorly a for the first 2 weeks that the cleft kind of paled into insignificance iyswim? I am hoping you and others will help me thru that as it arises.

Ledkr, here whenever you need! Reflux sounds awful, hopefully now your dd is coming through that you'll be able to enjoy just being mum for a bit, speak soon x