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.

Of course it happens! Stupid woman (not you, OP)

I had mine (unilateral cleft lip) repaired for the last time almost 20yrs ago. No one really notices it, because my surgeon did a top job!

It isn't only diet that causes it (otherwise both my girls would have one, and neither have - due to my body rejecting almost everything I ate)

My mu fell down the stairs at the time my face would have been fusing & they believe that cause the interruption to my development,.

Sleeker, there is no family history on either side in my case. I am the first in our family to have it, hence the feeling that it was caused by my mothers fall.

My daughters were given a 50/50 chance of having one. They didn't, as I have said.

I assumed that because of folic acid and better nutriotion that it was less of an occurance in the UK than in other poorer countries. Maybe it is just because it is repaired sooner and you don't see it as often though.

NeverSayPie

It wasn't that she didn't know what a cleft was, as she clearly did/does because she is aware of the adverts for Smiletrain.

The issue is that she is so ignorant she thinks it is only a third world problem. Anyone with a basic knowledge of how a baby develops (and yes, being a journalist in the field she is in, I would expect her to know how a baby develops in utero) she would know that clefts are not just an issue in places like India etc.

That is I believe, what the OP has an issue with!

I came across this on a friend's fb newsfeed (link not to fb, she was commenting about it)

"hypothetical Gaga" 18 Artists re image Lady Gaga.

Click on the photo & go to number 14.

I just looked at that,i should be angry but cant take that sort of moronic attempt to shock seriously,the person who did that picture cant hold a candle to my brave baby girl and others so i will laugh instead hahahahahahahahahahahaha

He wasn't intending it to shock. He was - so he says - trying to raise awareness for CLP!

I can't laugh. If it was a picture of her in wheelchair, or another disability, people would be all over this, or if he made her black (the task was to 'reimage' her)...but some people are wondering what the big deal is.

The big deal is that a cartoonist used a facial disfigurement that affects children (as it is repaired fairly early in life) to re image a pop star, known for her outrageous antics, her 'don't care' attitude.

NYM can't even apologise for their bad judgement, to a group of outraged mums on fb! They passed the buck onto the artist, yet they choose to publish it online!

It stinks & we should care, we should get angry! This is a battle your child will be fighting in years to come. As an adult who put up with abuse about my appearance in almost every school I went to, I now what your little ones have in store. It isn't nice. We do need to be angry....for them!

Of course it makes me angry but what i was meaning is that i refuse to give it any of the time i could spend looking after my little baby,she is only 14wks and as a nurse i well am aware of what we and her have to face and Lady gaga is an attention seeking idiot with issues. Im suprised you think that i was really laughing.

ledkr I took your post wrong, sorry!

Just so you know, it had nothing to do with lady Gaga. She had no in put into this!

Very strange. Of course it happens in the UK. It may be that there are fewer cases in the UK as some people have it diagnosed during scans and decide to terminate, which I think it totally dreadful!

Just wanted to point out when it comes to causes, no one has mentioned that Anti Epilpetic Drugs can cause cleft lip and palate. This why women ttc on AEDs are prescribed 10 times the advised dose of folic acid (5mg as opposed to the standard 0.5mg RDA in standard supplements.

In fact NICE guidelines state that all women on AEDs of child bearing age should be automatically prescribed 5mg folic acid a day just in case.

I don't know if there are other drugs too which have this increased incidence but AEDs certainly do, even the newer generation of AEDs.

Sleeker No known family history on either side. I am quite vague about it but I think its a recessive gene that maybe both parent have to carry for it to be passed on. The boys have no siblings so no way of knowing whether every child they had would have a cleft, or if only the males, or random.

My son does not have it but I suspect that there's a chance both he and his dad are carriers of the gene?

Guesswork really.

DS (19) was born with a severe unilateral cleft lip and palate. He has had many operations, the latest being a jaw osteotomy last August, and he's currently thinking about when he has his final one (nose job/lip tweak).

It's been an absolutely pain - particularly because the cleft teams were not organised when he was a baby, as they are now. BUT we have the most beautiful son - inside and out - who is studying physics at uni, with loads of friends and plenty of self-confidence. I firmly believe that he is the person that he is because of all the experiences he has gone through - and he thinks that too.

I took folic acid when I was pregnant with DS, but not when I was pregnant with DD - so who knows. There are a number of clefts on one side of the family, so obviously quite a strong genetic link.

I am so proud of him.

Lovely post aj

My kids both had clefts, there are other cases in the family too, so strong genetics for us.

As a mum of a baby with a cleft lip I wasn't particulary aware of the condition whenDS was born 5yrs ago and it was a big shock as it hadn't been picked up on the ultrasound so I was unaware how available and effective cleft repairs are in the UK

Smile train is a great charity

I am not sure there is a link with cleft and folate deficiency I was certainly told by the cleft team that the cause if unknown.

Women taking AED's are prescribed folic acid at high doses due to the risk of neural tube defects with antiepileptics

There was a thread not long ago where a poster was insisting that something must be true because she'd read about it in Pramhun & Bubs or somesuch (and indeed she had). It wasn't pretty.

I don't remember the details but it was utter bollocks - or rather went against all the stuff on various NHS-related sites.

So no, it doesn't surprise me.

bloodymofo I just spat my tea everywhere, snorting with laughter [grin}

Also, don't know what to make of the Lady Gaga thing. Is it bullying, or is it getting an image out there and making people think about the issue?

sleeker, it was done in answer to a challenge from his editor to 're image' her. NOTHING to do with awareness at all!

It was to make her more shocking!

Jenai

That sounds a fine publication, first issue came as a double with Lol! You're Preggers!! if I remember rightly.

Bluddy
DS used to be able to drink water and it would come out of his nose. It was his little party trick before the remaining fistula in his palate was closed when he was about 9. Pretty disgusting, but his mates thought it was amazing (little boy humour!!) and he found it amusing so just went with the flow.
I'm surprised your ex. hasn't had this fixed, but maybe because he was older he was caught in this situation when there were no real cleft teams.

Perhaps it's because most ops happen when the child is very young...

My beautiful cousin was born with one, they operated when she was very young and you wouldn't know by looking at her now that she'd ever had one.

In India there's probably far less opportunity for children to have the operation.