Both heredity and environmental factors play a role in the etiology of orofacial clefts. Numerous studies in human populations and on experimental animals have focused on environamental factors related to nutrition. More specifically, studies focusing on the mother's diet in the periconceptional period and int he early stages of embryonic and fetal development have shown the important role of vitamins and folic acid for normal development in utero.


Primary Prevention

• Occurences
  (in general population)

• Recurrences
  (in the risk families where a baby with anomaly has already been born)

Two recent studies have reported that mothers who take multivitamins with folic acid periconceptionally significantly decrease their risk for having a child with an orofacial cleft.

• Czech Study
• Historical Studies
• Current Studies
• Etiology of Clefts
• Reduced Risk