A cleft palate is when a baby is born with an opening (i.e. a cleft) in the roof of the mouth – resulting in a hole between the nose and the mouth.  For some babies, both the front and back parts of the palate are open, while for others only part of the palate is open. Sometimes the opening in the palate may also connect with an opening in the gums and the lip, resulting in both cleft lip and palate.

The goals of cleft palate repair are to close the opening between the nose and mouth; help create a palate that works well for speech; and prevent food and liquid from leaking out of the nose.