Cleft lip and cleft palate.

The birth of a child with a cleft lip or a cleft palate, or both, can be traumatic to the family. Although referral to a multidisciplinary team experienced in craniofacial abnormalities is essential, the family physician can reduce the impact on the family by providing antenatal diagnosis and continued care of the entire family after diagnosis, during initial feeding and bonding difficulties and throughout the many years of surgical and speech therapy.