“A baby with masking tape around the lip is an option for a mother to hide her baby’s deformity tells more.”

The family was saddened with pain when the only child, a baby boy of mother Manjana Limbu and Father Buddhiman Limbu, was born in a family with a cleft lip, a congenital birth defect in a child parents are temporary residents of ward number 5, Itahari Sub- Metropolitan City of Sunsari District, and permanent resident of Jhapa. For livelihood, the father does work of painting at newly built homes, and the mother stays at home taking care of the baby and is engaged in doing household chores.

The poor financial status of the family and a child with a cleft lip was a heart-wrenching moment to look at when CBRF of Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Program from Itahari Sub- Metropolitan City made her first visit to the child’s home. Mrs. Sita Dhital, CBRF of ward number 5 found him with bilateral cleft lip. The child’s mother said that despite the ANC check-ups she had done at the health facility, a baby was born with cleft lip, and nothing prior to the birth was known to her. However, the mother also confessed that she did not consume any folic acid, calcium, and iron tablets during her pregnancy.

The child was born in BPKIHS Dharan. At this moment, a 3 months child cannot suck milk properly because of his defect in his lip. However, surgery is planned for the correction of the child’s lip when he reaches the age of 5-6 months and gains weight of 5 kg in total.

A small support from our CBRF and her active role in her referral can drastically change the life of a child.