Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Awareness & Prevention Month of July.
Cleft Palate and Craniofacial conditions (bones of the skull and face) affect thousands of infants, children, teens and adults in the United States each year. Some are born with these anomalies like cleft lip and palate. Others are born with more complex and life-threatening craniofacial conditions. Some are burned and others are injured in accidents and animal attacks and some may be diagnosed with various oral, head, neck and skin diseases.
The most common ones are children born with cleft palates. Often, they have impaired ability to feed and impaired language development. Sometimes they are at risk for a greater number of ear infections, hearing issues, and problems with their teeth.
Health care professionals are encouraging women to maintain a healthy lifestyle to avoid cleft and craniofacial conditions and other birth deficiencies in their children. Taking folic acid while pregnant has shown to help prevent cleft cleft and craniofacial conditions.