The parents of eight babies born with cleft lip or cleft palate – a condition where the top lip or roof of the mouth doesn’t close while forming in the womb – are breathing a collective sigh of relief after specialists and the Netcare Foundation teamed up to make their children’s repair surgeries possible at Netcare Akasia Hospital.
“From birth, doctors said my daughter Oratilwe would need surgery for her cleft lip and palate,” says Nthabiseng Moremi, mother of two-year-old Oratilwe, whose name means ‘being loved’.
“It was hard for us as a family and yet we knew she needed this operation. I want to say thank you very much to the doctors and nurses, the Netcare Foundation and everyone who worked tirelessly to help Oratilwe and the other children receive this surgery – it really means a lot.”
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Pic: Relieved; Nthabiseng Moremi, mother of two-year-old Oratilwe, thanks Professor Kenneth Segwapa, his medical team and the Netcare Foundation for making her daughter’s cleft lip and palate repair surgery possible.
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Pic: Vuako Ndlovu, pictured with their mother Beverley Moyazi, was one of eight beneficiaries of Netcare Foundation’s cleft lip and palate programme at Netcare Akasia Hospital in early November.
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“In the case of babies with cleft lip, ideally, the repair surgery should be done at three months to achieve a good aesthetic result. Tragically, without awareness that there are options for cleft lip repair, parents sometimes hide their children with this condition until later on,” says Professor Kenneth Segwapa, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
“As we know, abnormalities of the facial features are especially prominent, and children who live with cleft lip unrepaired are often ridiculed or socially excluded by other children.”
“For babies with cleft palate, on the other hand, it is a functional issue as there is an open space between the mouth and the nasal cavity. Feeding is particularly difficult, as anything the baby takes in is usually regurgitated through the nose. The child’s speech can also be affected if not corrected at a certain age; ideally, they should have a first surgery around nine months, but unfortunately, the need for such procedures exceeds the resources available in the public sector,” he says.
Cleft lip and palate repair requires treatment by a multi-disciplinary team, including paediatricians, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, ENT surgeons, oral surgeons, social workers and speech therapists, as well as theatre and hospital time for the operation.
The Netcare Foundation is the corporate social investment (CSI) arm of the Netcare Group and, together with doctors from various disciplines who provide their time and expertise pro bono, the Foundation coordinates the resources required for lifechanging surgeries in Netcare hospitals.
Mande Toubkin, Netcare’s general manager of emergency, trauma, transplant and CSI, says that, apart from the functional and aesthetic aspects of cleft lip and palate repair surgery, these procedures also offer significant benefits for children’s social acceptance and development.
“Through this partnership, we are striving to make surgeries more accessible so that being born with a cleft lip or palate need not have lasting effects on the children’s physical health, speech or their confidence to interact with peers and make the most of education,” she says.
The medical team who gave of their time for the cleft lip and palate repair surgeries included Prof Segwapa, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, medical officers and the Registrars who also had the opportunity to learn and gain experience. Dr Refilwe Phalafala, Dr Maureen Leso-Rangwato, Dr Mohau Pholosi, Dr Gloria Tshukudu, Dr Refilwe Lekalakala, Dr Phindile Khoza, Dr Franco Swart, Dr Hazel Nyokana, Dr Una Nekhongoni, Dr Natalie Koto, paediatrician Dr Gawie JM Wolmarans and anaesthetists Dr Albert Marais and Dr Nomzamo Zito assisted the eight children over two consecutive days in early November at Netcare Akasia Hospital.
“Oratilwe is just a bit sore, but she is fine after the operation, and I know she will be just fine soon. We are so happy now,” relieved mother Nthabiseng said shortly before taking her daughter home the day after the operation.
“We are grateful that the Netcare Foundation has recognised the value of supporting these children to have this time-sensitive procedure sooner, as working together with the speech therapist and other members of the team, this is likely to improve the outcomes for these kids significantly,” Prof Segwapa concludes.
Ends.
Notes to editors
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Issued by: MNA on behalf of the Netcare Akasia Hospital and Netcare Foundation
For media enquiries contact: Martina Nicholson, Meggan Saville, Estene Lotriet-Vorster,
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