Feeding & Nutrition
The first, and often most important, step in the cleft care journey is ensuring the child is able to thrive.
Feeding & Nutrition Programs
Babies with clefts are uniquely vulnerable to malnutrition, even when food supply is abundant. This is because clefts affect their ability to suck, often making it very difficult to breast- or bottle-feed. Without support, many babies with clefts will face irreversible effects or even die from malnutrition.
Smile Train knows that achieving our vision of a world where every person has access to safe, high-quality comprehensive cleft care and is able to live a full and healthy life requires inclusive nutrition programs that support mothers and babies impacted by clefts.
Our nutrition programs have been expanding over the years, led by incredible local Smile Train medical partners around the world. COVID-19 has only served to underscore the urgent need for these programs.
Smile Train nutrition programs cover costs of feeding and nutrition specialists to be on staff with our cleft teams, ensuring that every family arriving for care is guided properly. The programs also support the local purchase of vital feeding and nutrition supplies such as breast milk pumps, nutrition supplements, and feeding tools. And finally, our programs support the ongoing communication and travel of patient families and feeding and nutrition specialists so those most vulnerable can continue to receive care until they are healthy enough for surgery.
Our Five-Year Commitment
On September 22, 2021 Smile Train officially announced our five-year commitment to scaling our investment in global nutrition. By the end of 2026, through awareness campaigns, advocacy, program expansion, partnerships, training, and education of health workers, Smile Train’s increased investment in nutrition will result in:
- More than one million mothers and children benefiting from cleft-specific feeding counseling
- More than 55,000 child malnutrition cases averted
- 40,000+ educational opportunities on cleft feeding and nutrition
- More than 1,000 partner hospitals across 70+ countries empowered to offer nutrition services to every mother and child pair affected by cleft
- An organized network of more than 250 partner hospitals offering advanced nutritional care for malnourished children with clefts
- A 40% reduction of the number of stunted children undergoing cleft surgery
When it comes to nutrition, protecting the health of communities, and securing the future of children around the world, we can’t delay. You can find more information and resources around cleft nutrition below. Interested in joining us in our commitment? Email: [email protected]
Our Five-Year Commitment
Resources for Families
The good news is that there are many resources and guides, such as those below, to help families keep their infants with clefts healthy and strong. Please see Smile Train’s Feeding Videos and Handouts, which are available in multiple languages for use worldwide. To access even more resources, please email [email protected].
Feeding Video
| English |
Feeding Handout
| English Variation 1 | English Variation 2 |
Nutrition Manual
| English |
Feeding & Nutrition Workshop
Smile Train has partnered with the global nutrition organization SPOON to develop a multi-day workshop called “Supporting Comprehensive Cleft Care Through Nutrition and Feeding” to train nurses, community health workers, and others on effective cleft feeding and nutrition strategies. Topics range from breastfeeding, safe bottle/cup/spoon-feeding techniques, and weaning to monitoring healthy growth and addressing malnutrition. See our Training Programs – Cleft Team Resources for more information.