This post is dedicated to all the Cleft Friends support moms – Happy Women’s Day. Thanks for choosing to use your cleft stories to reach out and make a difference in South Africa. Together we have 184 years’ of lived cleft experience and 74 surgeries as moms with a babies affected by cleft lip and palate. We are each on our own “cleft journey” so to speak and are stronger together. As support moms we encourage new moms to keep asking their team of medical professionals’ questions. We make it clear that we are not medical professionals. We know that each cleft lip and palate diagnosis is different and that each bring with them their own challenges, but we also know that most parents experience similar emotions and we can all use a little more support when things feel like they’re falling apart.
Together we manage 14 Whatsapp Groups nationally with over 280 moms affected by cleft lip and palate. The most spoken about topic on these groups since January 2019 includes surgeries, feeding problems, dental issues as well as speech therapy. Our support moms offer one-on-one support, hospital visitations when baby is born and when baby has his/ her operations. It’s important for parents or caregivers to inform us of these dates. We provide access to informative resources with helpful tips from other parents affected by cleft lip and palate on Cleft Moms SA – Facebook Group (closed).
What some people maybe don’t know about Cleft Friends is we support any mom whose baby is affected by cleft lip and/or palate. Sometimes this includes babies born with Pierre Robin Sequence (PRS), Craniosynotosi, Pigmentation linked disorder, Trisomy 13, Twins… the list goes on.
To benefit from all that Cleft Friends offers or to be added to our database so you can find out when the next community event will be taking place in your area simply complete the membership form provided by a Cleft Friends support mom or click on the “join” page on our website: https://cleftfriends.wpengine.com/join/.
Feel free to Whatsapp us on 082 393 1206 or email info@cleftfriends.co.za
#cleftfriends #smilefoundationsa #closingthegap #youarenotalone #cleftlip #cleftpalate #cleftstrong #cleftmomsSA #cleftcourage #resilience #womensday #happywomensday #southafrica
