Three babies are born with a cleft lip and/or palate every day in the UK, and they face a 20-year treatment pathway which can continue well into adulthood. The Cleft Lip & Palate Association (CLAPA) is here to make sure no one has to go through this alone.

Our daughter Mabel was born with a cleft palate and she also has Pierre Robin Sequence (PRS). PRS is named after a French physician who identified the main features of the condition in the early 20th Century.

In medicine, a ‘sequence’ is when a number of issues occur in a particular order due to a single cause. PRS is characterised by a small lower jaw, breathing difficulties and a cleft palate.

CLAPA have supported us so much since Mabel was born, from providing us with lots of information and knowledge when Mabel was first born and we were very scared about her medical condition. They provided us with specialist bottles to support us to bottle feed her from the day after she was born, they provided us lots of practical and emotional support in the run up to Mabel’s surgery and access to speech and language support. As Mabel gets older; CLAPA provide a whole range of support services for children and young people from a space to chat with other cleft affected children, to activity holidays.

We hope to raise as much as possible for CLAPA in their 2025 awareness week. No matter how big or small, your donation could help so many families just like us.

Thank you,

Abbie and Alex