Given that I hadn’t a clue about the subject until a few weeks ago, it may be best to start by explaining what a cleft is. In short, a cleft lip or palate happens when the structures that form the upper lip or palate (roof of the mouth) fail to join together when a baby is developing in the womb. The severity of a cleft can range massively and the defect itself has affected more people than you would think - even Leonardo DiCaprio, who was born with a cleft in his lip and palate!

This brings me to our family. We are expecting a baby boy in April 2024, and when attending our 20 week scan, the Sonographer detected a unilateral cleft in his lip. We’ve since been to a consultant who was able to determine that the cleft is very narrow, doesn’t affect his nose and they are optimistic that it doesn’t affect his dental structure, which is a massive positive - but we won’t know whether the palate is affected for certain until we get to meet him in April. Given the positive prognosis that we’ve received - with some luck, our little boy will only need a lip repair surgery at around 3-6 months old. Nonetheless, we have utilised various CLAPA resources to prepare and educate ourselves to give our little man all of the support he needs should his palate be affected also.

We consider ourselves extremely lucky because while our initial scans have been positive, that isn’t always the case for so many families.

Three babies are born with a cleft lip and/or palate every day in the UK, and they can face a 20-year treatment pathway which can still continue well into adulthood. The Cleft Lip & Palate Association (CLAPA) is here to make sure no one has to go through this alone - they provide education and support through every step of the journey. Naturally, this cause has become very close to our hearts and we are so thankful for the support we have already received from the NHS, and feel reassured knowing we can lean on a charity like CLAPA for additional support should we need to.

Within days of our consultant scan, a lady from the NHS came to our house and spent a couple of hours answering all of our questions, going through feeding techniques, explaining the surgical implications of a lip repair compared to what can be several procedures to repair a palate, and she detailed all of the additional resources available to babies and toddlers as they go throughout childhood. Many of the materials she used were from CLAPA and she explained how they play a crucial role in supporting hundreds of families every year.

I’d signed up for a half marathon some time before we received this news and I’d like to use this run as an opportunity to give back. CLAPA do not receive any NHS or Government funding and therefore rely entirely on donations from people like you.

Every donation will help CLAPA to continue to provide specialist, targeted services to give people affected by cleft the knowledge and emotional support they need. They also work closely with the 9 specialist NHS Cleft Teams in the UK and support people affected to get involved with various research projects, and other initiatives which ultimately improve care.

So please donate whatever you can - I can’t begin to describe how worthy of a cause this is!