Prenatal cleft lip and palate parent programme – phase 2

Abstract

In Phase 1, a protocol of care was set up for parents whose children were diagnosed prenatally with a cleft lip/palate and their responses to this protocol researched. Phase 2 looks at how, following this research, standards were developed from parents' requests and audited over eight years. Parents wanted a leaflet and referral to the cleft team when told the diagnosis. They wanted more preparation for breastfeeding, a meeting with their primary care team before the birth and they wanted the scan diagnosis to be accurate. Audit results showed that a number of sonographers were diagnosing cleft lip and palate with considerable variation in their accuracy. The audit results also highlighted a noticeable improvement in breast feeding rates and the giving of expressed breast milk (EBM) by bottle when parents were well prepared for their child's birth. It also showed that aprotocol of care that was parent-led and included parental and professi onal education positively improved parent's confidence, bonding and feeding management.