Transforming lives: Vital surgeries for babies with cleft lip and palate
Oratilwe and her mother Nthabiseng Moremi shortly after the little girl received surgery to repair her cleft palate.
Image: Supplied
The parents of eight babies born with cleft lip or cleft palate – a condition where the top lip or roof of the mouth doesn’t close while forming in the womb – are breathing a collective sigh of relief after specialists and the Netcare Foundation teamed up to make their children’s repair surgeries possible at Netcare Akasia Hospital in Pretoria.
“From birth, doctors said my daughter Oratilwe would need surgery for her cleft lip and palate. It was hard for us as a family and yet we knew she needed this operation,” Nthabiseng Moremi, the mother of the two-year-old, whose name means “being loved”, said.
Professor Kenneth Segwapa, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, meanwhile, explained that in the case of babies with cleft lip, ideally, the repair surgery should be done at three months to achieve a good aesthetic result.
“Tragically, without awareness that there are options for cleft lip repair, parents sometimes hide their children with this condition until later on. As we know, abnormalities of the facial features are especially prominent, and children who live with a cleft lip unrepaired are often ridiculed or socially excluded by other children.”
He added that for babies with cleft palate, on the other hand, it is a functional issue as there is an open space between the mouth and the nasal cavity. Feeding is particularly difficult, as anything the baby takes in is usually regurgitated through the nose.
The child’s speech can also be affected if not corrected at a certain age.
Segwapa said ideally, they should have a first surgery around nine months, but unfortunately, the need for such procedures exceeds the resources available in the public sector.
Cleft lip and palate repair requires treatment by a multi-disciplinary team, including paediatricians, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, as well as theatre and hospital time for the operation.
The Netcare Foundation is the corporate social investment (CSI) arm of the Netcare Group and, together with doctors from various disciplines who provide their time and expertise free of charge, the foundation coordinates the resources required for the life-changing surgeries in Netcare hospitals.
Mande Toubkin, one of Netcare’s general managers, explained that, apart from the functional and aesthetic aspects of cleft lip and palate repair surgery, these procedures also offer significant benefits for children’s social acceptance and development.
“Through this partnership, we are striving to make surgeries more accessible so that being born with a cleft lip or palate need not have lasting effects on the children’s physical health, speech, or their confidence to interact with peers and make the most of education,” she said.
Oratilwe’s mother, meanwhile, said the little girl is just a bit sore, but she is fine after the operation. “We are so happy now,” the relieved mother said shortly before taking her daughter home the day after the operation.