Nutritional care of children with cleft lip and palate: A pragmatic approach

The cleft lip and palate affect one in 700 newborn babies worldwide. This occurs due to variations during normal development of the primary and/or secondary palate. These lead to multiple challenges for both parents and caregivers in providing proper nutrition for the growth and development of the baby. Babies with cleft lip and palate have difficulty in taking breastfeeding directly, which can lead to gradual lactation suppression. Parental distress, lack of support, unawareness about the defect, improper feeding, frequent infections, and subsequent multiple surgeries can affect the nutrition and development of a cleft child. This article aims to emphasize the importance and understanding of nutrition during the initial 1000 days of life. The infant's brain undergoes maximal development during this stage, and any nutritional insult can have devastating consequences for their physical and mental development. Mothers and caregivers have to be educated regarding the importance of breastfeeding, benefits of human milk, appropriate feeding positions, methods as well as feeding interventions. This article aims to provide a common understanding of the timeline for providing nutrition to infants before surgery. Therefore, it is important to establish timely and proper feeding to build immunity and adequate weight gain. For the identification of studies for this review, detailed search strategies were developed for each database: PubMed, EMBASE, and OVID. All articles having full-text access were searched electronically. Search included WHO publications, original articles, review articles, and other related articles. This comprehensive understanding of nutrition has to be understood by all stakeholders of the multidisciplinary team to ensure a successful and smooth surgical course and an overall positive outcome.