Breast or bottle feeding is possible. A newborn baby with a cleft palate may need extra help. A cleft palate can make it hard of a baby to form a vaccum in its mouth. Breast feeding of a child with a cleft palate is sometimes possible. When it proves very difficult to breastfeed, mothers often express breast milk for bottle feeding.
Bottle feeding is usually most successful for babies with cleft palates.
Treatment will be provided by a Cleft Lip and Palate Team . This will be made up of specialists working together to make sure that the best possible treatment is given. A baby born with a cleft should be contacted by someone on their Cleft team within 24 hours of diagnosis. It requires a general anaesthetic and takes roughly one and a half hours. Most babies recover very quickly and will not experience much pain after this operation.