IOSR Journal of Nursing and Health Science (IOSR-JNHS e-ISSN: 2320–1959.p- ISSN: 2320–1940 Volume 6, Issue 2 Ver. VIII (Mar. - Apr. 2017), PP 46-56 www.iosrjournals.org\ DOI: 10.9790/1959-0602084656 www.iosrjournals.org 46 | Page Assessment of Mothers’ Needs for their Infants who have Cleft Lip and/or Palate 1 Eslam Reda Fathy, 2 Dr. Azza Abdel Moghny Attia 1 Demonstrator, Faculty of Nursing, Suez Canal University, Egypt 2 Assist. Professor of Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Cairo University, Egypt Abstract: Background: Parents of babies born with clefts have many questions and concerns, including basic information regarding care especially feeding. Aim: the study aimed to assess mothers’ needs for their infants who have cleft lip and/or palate. Methods: descriptive exploratory design was adopted in the current study, Sample: convenience sample of 50 mothers having infants with cleft lip and/or palate, Tools of data collection: Two tools were utilized for data collection; structured questionnaire sheet and infant physical and psychological needs assessment form. Results: slightly less than three quarter and about two third of the mothers were unaware how to prevent their infants from getting pneumonia and otitis media respectively. Slightly more than one quarter and more than one fifth of the mothers were unaware and do nothing to prevent complications of weight loss. In addition; more than one fifth and slightly more than one quarter of the mothers were not achieving satisfaction of warmth, comfort and sucking pleasure needs to their infants respectively. Conclusion: The study concluded that the main eminent needs of some of infants' mothers were inability to deal with their infants' health problems arise during care of their infants with orofacial defects and also some mothers did not satisfy the basic developmental needs of their infants. Recommendation: Developmental needs and health problems of infants with cleft lip and/or palate should be taken into considerations in planning for infants' care and an educational program should be designed and implemented for those infants' mothers. Further studies using large sample size are needed to generalize the study results. Keywords: developmental needs, health, infants, mothers, orofacial defects (OFDs), otitis media, pneumonia, underweight. I. Introduction Oro-facial clefts (OFCs) remain a prominent health issue in developed and developing countries alike. With a worldwide prevalence of approximately 1.2/1000 live births; OFCs are the commonest craniofacial birth defects in humans [1] . Cleft lip (CL) and palate (CP) occurs in about 1 to 2 per 1000 births in the developed world. CL is about twice as common in males as females, while CP without CL is more common in females [2] . In a study done in Egypt (Ain Shams University hospital) during the period from year 1995 up to year 2009 about "congenital malformations prevalence among Egyptian children (from birth up to 18 years) and associated risk factors", the study results revealed that the CL and CP prevalence were 0.3/1000 among the study sample [3] . In addition to the aesthetic disfigurement, a child with cleft lip and/or palate suffers substantial functional morbidity such as restricted maxillofacial growth, speech anomalies, swallowing and feeding difficulties, hearing loss and/or recurrent ear infections. Although not generally life-threatening, living with a cleft elicits a significant health burden [4] . Cleft may cause problems with feeding, ear disease, speech and socialization. Due to lack of suction, an infant with a cleft may have trouble feeding. But do all this problems finishes with surgical treatment. Individuals with cleft also face many middle ear infections which may eventually lead to hearing loss. The Eustachian tubes and external ear canals may be angled or tortuous. Babies with palatal clefts may have compromised hearing and therefore, if the baby cannot hear, it cannot try to mimic the sounds of speech. Because the lips and palate are both used in pronunciation, individuals with cleft usually need the aid of a speech therapist [5] . Parents of babies born with clefts have many questions and concerns, including the cause of the birth defect, the health of the baby, basic information regarding care especially feeding, and the timing and sequence of operations and non-operative treatments that the child will undergo [6] . Mothers need to know everything when a child is born with a cleft lip/cleft palate. Parents may grieve for the loss of the ideal child that they expected. Parents may need assistance to view their infant as a whole person, rather than focusing solely on the physical defect [7] . Needs of mothers of infant child with cleft lip and/or palate were evaluated by [8] , the results concluded that, CLP information, especially on feeding, surgery, financial support and speech problems were very important for them.