ATNASIA’S STORY
Atnasia received cleft palate surgery at our Bahir Dar programme, she is one year and seven months old and attended with her mother.
Atnasia’s mother tells us about her daughter’s birth, “I gave birth to my child at the health center. I was unconscious when the baby was delivered and I was bleeding during delivery. After delivery, I slept for some hours. When I woke up, they told me I have a baby girl. They also told me I had a normal delivery, but she was born with some problem with her face. When I saw her I asked the health professional if they had injured her during delivery. He told me that, such a case happens rarely for many children. So don’t worry it will be corrected by surgery after a few months later.” Having health and social workers trained in comprehensive cleft care enables mothers to be reassured after delivery and have the correct information to seek the necessary treatment for their child.
“Although I understand the issue of my child as an educated person, our community at large couldn’t understand about the case, they see it as a curse. Therefore after treatment, my brain will get rest from the stress that has been harming me psychologically. Thank you every one who helped me.”
Her mother explained to us the difficulty that Atnasia experienced with eating, “My child always has difficulty in eating food because she cannot chew comfortably. Therefore I am forced to make soup for my child every day because she cannot eat hard food.” Many children with cleft conditions struggle with both breastfeeding and eating, often resulting in them becoming dangerously undernourished and at risk of infection. Corrective surgery removes this developmental barrier for children born with cleft lip and palates.