Each year, during National Cleft & Craniofacial Awareness & Prevention Month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) decides to draw attention to the thousands of infants, children, teens and adults affected by cleft and craniofacial conditions in the U.S. each year.

While some babies are born with congenital anomalies (i.e. cleft lip and palate), others are born with far more serious life-threatening craniofacial conditions.

Birth defects, particularly craniofacial defects, occur in all racial and ethnic groups. Craniofacial defects affect the structure and function of a baby's head and face. There are a number of craniofacial defects, including microtia and anotia, but two of the most common defects are orofacial clefts (when the lip and mouth does not form properly) and craniosynostosis, (when the bones in the baby's skull fuse too early). While there are treatments and services for children born with these defects, they vary depending on the severity of the defect, associated syndromes, the child's age, and medical or developmental needs.

Babies born with certain craniofacial defects tend to have greater risks for developmental, physical, learning and social challenges, or a combination of each. With approximately 7,000 U.S. infants born with an orofacial cleft, it's a decided fact that craniofacial defects significantly affect public health.

Health-care providers are asked to encourage women of childbearing age or women looking to become pregnant to maintain a healthy weight, control diagnosed diabetes and quit smoking to decrease the likelihood of giving birth to a child born with craniofacial defects.

The CDC provides assistance and resources to educate the public on how to care for a child with cleft and craniofacial defects. They also partner with others to help the public to better understand health care service use, timeliness of services, access to care, quality of life and health outcomes, and its impact on family and medical care costs.

Learn more about National Cleft and Craciofacial Awareness and Prevention Month, click here to visit the Cleft Palate Foundation.

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