When a foetus is developing inside the womb there is a point in this developing process that involves the roof of the mouth fusing together. Sometimes this process does'nt go to plan, and the fusing of the mouth is incomplete. Whats left is a hole called a cleft-palate(cleft meaning "a split" or "seperation".

No doctor or scientist has a clear answer to the cause of this happening. It can be hereditary,but can also happen as a "one off" occurance in a family.

There is plenty of help from organisations out there to help the parents of cleft-palate children come to terms with thier childs defect.

My own experience

A little over 2 years ago i gave birth to my third child,a bouncing baby boy. The next day(still in hospital) a doctor came to give him a full check-up,only to discover that he had a very large cleft-palate. I now knew why milk kept running down his nose every time i fed him. The knowledge of him having this defect was traumatising, i'd had 2 children previous to him, both with no physical problems at all, it was just so unexpected,i was shocked.

After getting over the enitial shock of his defect i slowly learned how to deal with the physical problems that arose. Feeding times were nerve-racking as although he used special teats to make sure the milk went down the throat instead of up through the hole.there were still occasions where his nose would get clogged-up with milk,making him choke,cry in discomfort and even vomit.

Think how distressing it feels when you vomit and it comes down your nose. Its a horrible feeling. My son always got distressed when his nose was full of milk, he could'nt breathe. He would kick and scream and sometimes refuse to continue feeding.

When my son reached 9 months,he went into theatre to get his palate repaired. I think it took about 4 hours of surgery,during which time i paced the hospital corridors with my heart in my mouth. His surgery went well, and i got to see him afterwards in the high dependancy unit.        

I could do nothing but cry when i saw my little angel,his face swollen to the size of a watermelon,dry blood all round his mouth, drips in both arms which were covered with velcro casts. I felt so guilty. After spending 3 days in hospital,his appetite had returned,he was off strong painkillers and ready to go home.

Sean is now almost 2 and a half yrs old. The whole ordeal has been put behind us, he is a happy,healthy little boy. You could never tell that he has had an operation on his mouth,the surgeon did an amazing job and i'm glad he had the surgery. My guilt has gone!