Prenatal counseling for cleft and craniofacial conditions

As testing methods continue to improve, doctors are now better able to make a diagnosis of cleft lip, cleft palate or other conditions that affect the skull and face before a baby is born. These improved methods have led to an increase in the number of children diagnosed prenatally (before birth).

A prenatal counseling visit helps parents-to-be obtain accurate and current information about their infant's diagnosis and the services and programs available to help. Knowing what to expect and what to be prepared for can help reduce stress for parents when their infant is born.

Our center’s director and program coordinator provide prenatal counseling appointments. 

What to expect at your prenatal counseling appointment

• Our center’s director, a full-time craniofacial and pediatric plastic surgeon will review the child’s diagnosis and the limits of ultrasound technology (the medical imaging used to examine the fetus). The center director will also discuss the various treatment plans available for a child’s diagnosis and outline the care that a child will likely need during childhood.
• Our program coordinator, a speech/language pathologist and craniofacial feeding specialist, will talk with parents about the psychological and emotional needs they may have as they prepare for the birth. Families will also learn about the different feeding techniques and specialized feeding bottles that may be needed once their child is born.

Conditions we treat: Learn more about your infant's diagnosis and the services we provide to help

We provide care for a variety of conditions children are born with (congenital conditions) as well as conditions that may occur during a child’s life. These include:

• Cleft lip and palate
• Pierre Robin sequence
• Velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI)
• 22q11.2 deletion syndrome
• Craniosynostosis
• Hemifacial microsomia
• Craniofacial microsomia
• Plagiocephaly
• Torticollis
• Chiari malformation
• Vascular malformations
• Hemangiomas