Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

There are a lot of future mothers asking what causes cleft palate. You should know about it that the skull and the face of the baby are formed during the first two months of pregnancy. If everything goes well, the tissues of the palate and lip fuse together. In case of the babies with this problem, this never happens.

This is why there will be an opening, known as the cleft. According to the researchers, the reasons of having cleft palate include an interaction of the environmental and genetic factors. However in the majority of the cases the exact cause is never found. As a result the specialists don’t know how to prevent the problem.

Genetic factors as origins of cleft palate

It is possible for both the mother and the father to pass on genes that cause cleft palate. This could be an isolated defect but it could also be part of a syndrome that has clefting as one of the signs. Sometimes the babies inherit a characteristic that makes it likely for them to end up with cleft palate.

If one of the genetic cleft palate causes is present, it is possible for the environmental factors to make the defect actually appear. This means that there is need for more than just one factor for the babies to be affected. However there isn’t much that the parents can do to avoid the problem.

Environmental factors

When thinking about cleft palate origins there are many different environmental factors that women should stay away from. These include alcohol, cigarette smoke, illicit drugs, different kinds of medication and several viruses. All of them can be associated with the appearance of the problem.

Risk factors

When asking causes cleft palate there are certain risk factors that women have to keep in mind. These include having a family history of the problem. The parents who have a family history of cleft palate are more likely to have children with the same problem.

In the same time, another one of the sources of cleft palate is belonging to a certain ethnic group. This problem is the most common among Asian and American Indian children. On the other hand, the most unlikely children to be affected are the Black children. Caucasian babies could also be affected by the problem.

Another one of the cleft palate sources that the parents have to think about is sex. This is because males have higher chances of being affected by clefting. In case of females we have to think about cleft palate without a cleft lip. The environmental factors also have a word to say as it has been mentioned before.

Believe it or not, when it comes to what leads to cleft palate the weight of the mother also contributes to the appearance of the problem. According to the specialists the obese mothers have slightly higher chances of delivering babies with a cleft palate.

Now you know the answer to the question what causes cleft palate and more.