Antenatal vitamin D status and cleft lip and palate

Cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that occur when a baby’s lip or mouth do not form properly during the early stages of pregnancy. One baby in every 600-700 live births is born with cleft lip and/or palate. Children who suffer from facial clefts are subjected to a lifetime of treatment, and also to teasing and bullying because of the visible scar following cleft lip repair and distortion of facial expressions. This project will investigate if deficiency of vitamin D during pregnancy is associated with cleft lip and palate, which may help reducing the incidence.