When Yvette Claassens gave birth and saw her baby for the first time, her immediate reaction was to give him away.
The 33-year-old mother from Delmas, Mpumalanga, said she still remembers the shock she felt when doctors handed her baby to her born with a cleft lip and palate, a condition that affects a newborn baby’s lip and roof of the mouth.
She said the child looked so unfamiliar to her that she struggled to even recognise him as her own. In that moment, she believed giving him away would be easier than facing a future she did not understand.
“When I gave birth and saw my baby for the first time, I wanted to give him away because he looked ugly and I couldn’t accept him as my baby,” Claassens said.
“He looked scary and unrecognisable, but my mother told me this was curable so long as I got the right help,”
During the cleft and palates surgical programme hosted by Operation Smile South Africa at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital in Johannesburg on Thursday, Claassens shared with TimesLIVE that for her, the condition is genetic. She also had it when she was young, but can’t remember how it negatively affected her.
“When I had my baby, I remember my father telling me that I also had the condition. It was difficult to accept that because I don’t even have pictures of myself as prove it,” she said.
Her son, now one-year-old, was born with a cleft lip and palate - an opening or split in the upper lip, the roof of the mouth (palate), or both. The condition develops during the early weeks of pregnancy when facial tissues fail to join together.
Claassens said her son has had two surgeries and needs another one to repair his palate in order to speak properly.
“I am pleased with the progress my son has made. I can now look at him with a smile and also play with him in my spare time. My child is everything to me,” she said.
For Godelive Nzwiba, from Troyeville, east of Johannesburg, the journey started with abandonment.
Her seven-year-old grandson Victor was abandoned by his mother shortly after birth because of his condition.
Nzwiba said the child’s mother wanted to leave him at the hospital after seeing he had been born with a cleft lip and palate.
But after returning home, she said the mother continued neglecting the baby before eventually disappearing completely.
“People at the hospital stopped her and told her she can’t leave her child behind. When she was discharged, she left the baby with me and said she cant take care of an abnormal child,” she said.
Before Victor’s first surgery at the age of two, eating was a struggle. Nzwiba said food such as porridge, baby’s milk formula and even water would come out through his nose whenever he tried to swallow.
“He struggled badly to eat. At some point we had to force him to eat,” she said
Victor has since had several surgeries but he still struggles with speech.
“When he talks, many people can’t hear what he is saying including his friends, but luckily he hasn’t experienced abuse amongst his peers,” Nzwiba said.
Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital speech therapist Roslyn Lentin said unrepaired cleft palates could affect a child’s speech, hearing and language development.
“The palate directs air through the mouth and nose, so when there are holes, children often sound like they are speaking through their nose,” she said.
She said children can also develop hearing problems because fluid builds up in the ear.
“It’s a bit like cellphone reception. Sometimes you hear properly and sometimes you don’t,” she said.
Lentin said many children were able to develop normally after surgery, especially if they received speech therapy and support at home.
Executive director of Operation Smile South Africa Sarah Scarth said this year’s programme was important because the organisation is marking 20 years of providing free cleft surgeries across SA and sub-Saharan Africa through volunteer doctors and nurses.
“We believe safe surgery is a human right not a privilege. We are also shining a spotlight on the role volunteers continue to play in helping families who struggle to get specialised healthcare,” she said.
For families like the Claassen’s and Nzwiba’s, the surgeries mean far more than fixing a smile. She said, “they mean children can finally eat properly, speak more clearly and live like other children”.
TimesLIVE
