💙It is estimated that, worldwide, a child is born every 3 minutes with a cleft.

💙Cleft lip may be detected with an ultra sound at the 12 week scan, but if a cleft palate appears alone it can be harder to detect and they can appear together or alone in various form.

💙Here in the West we usually have access to scans during our pregnancy and appropriate care for our cleft children once they arrive in the world, but this is not the case globally.

💙Smile Train is the world’s largest cleft charity, empowering local medical professionals to provide free cleft treatment in their own communities.

💙This is absolutely life changing work for those parents and children affected by cleft. They receive care in their mother tongue and can access important after care if required, the difference this must make to families is indescribable.

💙Having a baby is such an all consuming experience, we all hope a beautiful one of course. Having a baby you know is going need care after birth can be scary and frightening. Not knowing your baby will be born with a cleft and so being unable to prepare must be such a shock.

💙We were told our baby didn’t have a cleft and then weeks later we were told she did. That in itself was a shock, but at least we had time to prepare and make decisions as to what we would do when she was born, these decisions are not always straight forward and I think it is the unknown which can cause the most worry and concern.

💙I know we have been very blessed every step of the way; at the start in Singapore under the care of Dr Vincent Yeow and his incredible team of nurses, and now here in the UK in an incredible NHS Cleft facility.

💙I wish this for every family affected by Cleft.

💙This collection of Cleft Portraits are my way of celebrating the journey and incredible gift it is to have a Cleft child.

This fund raiser is to help keep me on track and raise much needed funds....Then next year, there will be an exhibition of these portraits somewhere!!! ☺️

Update !! 

77 portraits complete … 23 to go  🥰

Smiles which need celebrating 💙

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