University of Virginia Health System

A cleft lip and palate occur when a baby is born with an opening in the roof of their mouth (palate) and the upper lip does not fully form.   These conditions can occur separately so that some children are born with a cleft lip but a normal palate, and some have a cleft palate but normal upper lip. 

A completely formed lip is important not only for a normal facial appearance but also for  sucking and to form certain sounds made during speech.  The palate is the roof of your mouth. You can feel your own palate by running your tongue over the top of your mouth. If you open your mouth and look into a mirror you will see that the palate extends from your teeth all the way back to the little dangling extension, called the uvula, in the middle of the back of your mouth.

The palate is made of bone and muscle and is covered by a thin, wet skin that forms the red covering inside the mouth. It's purpose is to separate your nose from your mouth much like a floor separating the basement from the ground floor. The palate has an extremely important role during speech because when you talk, it prevents air from blowing out of your nose instead of your mouth. The palate is also very important when eating. It prevents food and liquids from going up into the nose. During swallowing, the tongue presses up against the palate and pushes the chewed food to the back of the throat where it then goes down into the stomach.

Cleft lip and palate occurs in one of every 500 to 1000 babies.   It is one of the most common birth defects.  Fortunately, there are specialized medical teams who perform surgery and provide the therapy needed to correct these conditions.  Children who are born with cleft lip and palate are able to live normal and healthy lives.

Doctors and scientists know how cleft palates form, but they still do not have a complete explanation for why clefts occur, or what causes them. A combiniation of the child's inherited traits and the environment within the mother's womb during pregnancy is thought to be the most likely cause of clefting in an infant. In some way, the growth and development of the face are disrupted, resulting in a cleft.