Cleft Lip

Topic Overview

What is cleft lip?

Cleft lip is a treatable birth defect that occurs when the tissues of the upper jaw and nose do not join as expected during fetal development, resulting in a split (cleft) in the lip. A cleft lip generally does not cause health problems. Occasionally, some infants with cleft lip have difficulty feeding.

Cleft lip usually involves only one side of the upper lip; it rarely occurs in the lower lip. Cleft lip often occurs with cleft palate; the two are the most common birth defects of the head and neck.¹

What causes cleft lip?

Cleft lip is probably caused by genetic and environmental factors. If you were born with a cleft palate or cleft lip, your children will have an increased risk for being born with one of these.

A baby may be at higher risk for being born with cleft lip if during pregnancy the mother uses certain medicines, is exposed to radiation or infections, takes illegal drugs, or smokes and drinks alcohol.

What are the symptoms?

A cleft lip is visible at birth. Beyond the distinctive physical appearance, no other symptoms usually are noticed. Babies with cleft lip typically do not have any problems breast-feeding or bottle-feeding. But babies with both cleft lip and cleft palate may have feeding problems. See an illustration of a cleft palate .

How is cleft lip diagnosed?

Cleft lip usually is diagnosed at birth from the newborn's distinctive facial characteristics. A baby's first physical examination shortly after birth can provide more details about the condition, such as whether the baby also has a cleft palate.

Sometimes a fetal ultrasound during pregnancy can detect a cleft lip. But it is not always reliable for this purpose.

How is it treated?

When the surgery takes place depends upon a number of things, including what your doctor suggests, your babies health and the cleft itself. Most doctors agree that cleft lip should, in most cases, be repaired by the time your baby is three months old.²

The exact timing of treatment and surgery takes into account the severity of the cleft lip, the size and health of the baby, and other concerns the doctor may have for the baby.

The type of surgery to correct a cleft lip depends on how much of the lip is involved, whether the baby has any defects of the nose, and whether cleft palate is also present. Additional surgeries may be done as the child grows to help the mouth adapt and to improve the appearance of a scar. The number and type of surgeries depend on other aspects of your baby's health, such as whether other facial defects are present. For example, if your baby's nose is irregularly shaped, additional surgery may be done later to correct it for health or cosmetic reasons.

Other treatment is specific to the kinds of problems that can develop, such as speech therapy for word pronunciation problems.

Frequently Asked Questions

Learning about cleft lip:	What is cleft lip? What are the symptoms? How common is cleft lip? Can cleft lip be prevented? What are the different types of cleft lip? How are cleft lip and cleft palate related?
Being diagnosed:	How is cleft lip diagnosed?
Getting treatment:	How is cleft lip treated? How many surgeries are needed?
Ongoing concerns:	What are my chances of having a child with a cleft lip or cleft palate? How can I help my child with cleft lip? What are some common concerns parents experience?

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Author:	Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS	Last Updated February 6, 2006
Medical Review:
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