20 week scan possible cleft lip

[Firevie]

Hi, I am currently 20 weeks pregnant with DD. I have an amazing little boy (21months) and I am very blessed to be having a DD this Nov. We had our 20week scan today. The sonographer has potentially detected a 4mm cleft lip (palate appears to be intact) but she wasn't sure, so she has referred us to a consultant scan on Monday. My mind is going crazy. Googling is driving me bananas. I am grateful everything else looks healthy but I am so scared about this I just want her to be healthy and perfect. Also, I BF my DS for 20months and I am hoping to EBF DD too and I'm scared the cleft lip (if she has one) may throw a spanner in the works. Any positive experiences / stories (also of Sonographers getting it wrong :)). Thank you in advance

Hopefully someone will be along soon with some advice from experience, but just wanted to say that on the podcast Two New Mums one of them had a baby with a cleft lip and she goes into her experience, it’s very positive so might be worth a listen if you’re interested when you’re ready / if you get a diagnosis. Episode 6 talks about her 20 week scan where it was spotted and the following consultant appointment.

Hi OP. A little late to this, apologies. Congratulations on your pregnancy! My daughter was diagnosed with a cleft lip and palate at our 20 week scan which was then confirmed at the consultant appointment a couple of days later.

If you do get a firm diagnosis - please know that your daughter will still be painfully gorgeous once she is born, just like I'm sure you found with your first baby. If your baby has a cleft lip and no cleft palate, there is still a good chance you'll be able to EBF as your breast tissue might be able to close the gap in the lip so that the baby can still create suction. My daughter had absolutely no hope of being able to directly bf so I pumped for as long as I could and managed to (indirectly) EBF for a while before having to move to a soft rubber bottle that we would squeeze for her. We've never had a moment's trouble feeding her, weaning her or bonding with her and she's the absolute light of my life.

The cleft care pathway is just absolutely outstanding and you can expect a lip repair operation to happen at around 3 to 4 months old. And although you might not believe it right away, when that surgery comes around you won't want it to happen!

It's very short notice but, if you did get a firm diagnosis since your original post, there is an Antenatal Support Group session being run by the CLAPA charity this evening on Zoom (31st July) at 7.30pm for families with a recent cleft diagnosis. I volunteer with CLAPA so I help to host a lot of their online sessions.

https://clapa.formstack.com/forms/antenatal_support_group

Also very happy to chat via DM if you'd like - just drop me a message.

Hope all is well anyway - whatever the outcome of the consultants appointment x