Cleft lip and palate support

Illustration of boy Within 24 hours of the birth of your baby, you will be visited by a Specialist Cleft Nurse who will advise you about feeding.

When you attend your first appointment with us you will be seen by one of our cleft psychologists who can offer you support and advice. As your child develops we can offer support for a range of difficulties. This might include worrying about coming to hospital, anxiety about treatments, building your child’s confidence or helping your child find ways to talk about their cleft. This might include working with you as a family or offering support and advice to professionals including schools.

Cleft Lip and Palate Association

Our Cleft team are supported by the UK’s only cleft lip and palate charity – CLAPA (Cleft Lip and Palate Association). CLAPA is consistently working to improve cleft care in the UK by representing the needs of people affected by cleft; creating a UK-wide “cleft community” of people with and affected by condition. If you would like more information please visit www.clapa.com.

Support groups

The cleft team and CLAPA run a 'Patient Voices' group where a group of current patients or parents meet in a relaxed space to talk about their personal experiences, opinions and ideas. We aim to meet every three months in Birmingham. These meetings are also attended by members of our Cleft team.

Please follow us on Twitter @CleftTeamBCH to keep up to date with the latest news and events occurring within the department.