Cleft lip and cleft palate (the roof of the mouth) are amongst the most common birth defects which occur when a baby’s facial structures do not develop fully during pregnancy, causing your child’s lip or mouth not to not fuse together properly. Together these are known as “orofacial clefts”, and your child may have either or both of these.

Your child’s lips will normally form between the fourth and seventh week of your pregnancy. A cleft lip results when the tissue that makes up your child’s lip does not join together entirely before birth. The opening may either be a small or large enough to extend from the lips through to the nasal cavity. It can appear on either or both sides of the lip and in some rare cases may appear in the middle of the lip.

The palate is usually formed between the sixth and ninth week of your pregnancy. A cleft palate may develop if the tissue that makes up the roof of your child’s mouth does not develop fully and fails to join completely. Your baby may have a partially open palate or a case where both the front and back of their palate is open. 

Orofacial clefts are thought to be the result of a combination of genetic, environmental or other factors, including certain medicines the mother may have taken during pregnancy. Usually, orofacial clefts occur as isolated birth defects.