People can born with various different types of anatomical defects, one that is in the top ten of newborn babies is cleft lip and palate also known as an orofacial cleft. When people Americans hear “cleft lip” or “cleft palate,” they often think of children in developing countries, but U.S babies are by no means immune to birth defects (Gordon, 2012). The meaning of cleft is a gap or split between two things. This abnormality affects about 1 in 700 Caucasian babies, more often in Asians, Latinos and certain Native Americans, and less frequently in African Americans. Males are twice as likely to get than females (Tolavor, 2015). Between the fourth and seventh week of pregnancy the lip starts to form. Normally to make the face, body tissue, spacial cells from each side of the head grow toward the center of the face and join. The joining of the two tissues forms the facial features of the lips and mouth. Newborns with cleft lip don’t have the two tissues come together where it form the lips and mouth. Scientist have learned that there are many possible causes for cleft (Cleft Palate Foundation, 2015).
Children with cleft lip may also have cleft palate. The roof of the mouth is formed somewhere between the sixth and ninth week of pregnancy. The defect occurs when the tissue that makes up the roof of the mouth does not join completely that creates the seam in the roof of your mouth. You can feel this seam by running either your finger or tongue on the roof of your mouth.
Birth defects can affect the function of the body; in the case with this type of defect at the newborns and kids age it can physically affect hearing, speech, dental, and feeding problems. Feeding complications arise for newborns with cleft palate because there is a hole between the nose and mouth. To get an idea of what this is like, think about a time when you laughed so hard while drinking juice that it came out of your nose? It is not a pleasant feeling the first time it happens; imagine it...