Editing Cleft lip and cleft palate (section)

===Complications===
[[File:Cleft Nurser Mead Johnson.jpg|thumb|A baby being fed using a customized bottle. The upright sitting position allows [[Earth's gravity|gravity]] to help the baby swallow the milk more easily.]]
Cleft may cause problems with feeding, ear disease, speech, socialization, and cognition.

Due to lack of suction, an infant with a cleft may have trouble feeding. An infant with a cleft palate will have greater success feeding in a more upright position, as gravity will help prevent milk from coming through the baby's nose. Gravity feeding can be accomplished by using specialized equipment, such as the [[Haberman Feeder]]. Another equipment commonly used for gravity feeding is a customized bottle with a combination of nipples and bottle inserts. A large hole, crosscut, or slit in the nipple, a protruding nipple and rhythmically squeezing the bottle insert can result in controllable flow to the infant without the stigma caused by specialized equipment.

Individuals with cleft also face many middle ear infections which may eventually lead to hearing loss. The [[Eustachian tube]]s and external ear canals may be angled or tortuous, leading to food or other contamination of a part of the body that is normally self-cleaning. Hearing is related to learning to speak.  Babies with palatal clefts may have compromised hearing and therefore, if the baby cannot hear, it cannot try to mimic the sounds of speech. Thus, even before expressive language acquisition, the baby with the cleft palate is at risk for receptive language acquisition. Because the lips and palate are both used in pronunciation, individuals with cleft usually need the aid of a speech therapist.

Tentative evidence has found that those with clefts perform less well at language.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Roberts RM, Mathias JL, Wheaton P | title = Cognitive functioning in children and adults with nonsyndromal cleft lip and/or palate: a meta-analysis | journal = Journal of Pediatric Psychology | volume = 37 | issue = 7 | pages = 786–797 | date = August 2012 | pmid = 22451260 | doi = 10.1093/jpepsy/jss052 | doi-access = free }}</ref>