What is a cleft palate repair?
Cleft palate repair is an operation to repair defects of the hard and soft palate. In some babies born with clefts of the lip and palate, part of the palate (the front anterior part) is repaired at the time of the lip repair. An important part of the operation is joining up the soft palate muscles in a more normal position. The earliest we do the operation is when babies are approximately six months of age. Sometimes the operation involves making some cuts along the side of the palate to allow the two halves to be brought together. Children usually stay in hospital for two nights, but can sometimes go home after one night.
