Schisis is also known in Dutch as harelip or cleft lip (we prefer not to use the word harelip because of stigma). Schisis is a congenital abnormality of the upper lip and/or jaw and/or palate.

What is a cleft palate?

Schisis is also known in Dutch as harelip or cleft lip (we prefer not to use the word harelip because of stigma). Schisis is a congenital abnormality of the upper lip and/or jaw and/or palate.

A lip cleft is a condition in which there is a cleft or opening in the upper lip, while a palate cleft is a condition in which there is a cleft or opening in the roof of the mouth. These congenital conditions occur when the tissues of a baby's face do not fuse together properly during development early in pregnancy.

Schisis greatly affects a child's development. Problems with speech, hearing and feeding often occur. This makes the treatment of schisis complex and makes for a lengthy treatment process involving many specialists. Timely treatment is required to give children normal growth and development.

If a cleft palate is repaired after surgery, the palate may not function adequately causing what is known as "nasal or open nasal speech." This is common in children with cleft palates, where the child has difficulty producing certain sounds resulting in poor intelligibility for those around him or her. This can have a great impact on the child's quality of life. These children will then be treated surgically at a later age from 3 to 6 years with a so-called speech improvement surgery.

Shortage of knowledge, experience & money

In the Netherlands, the cleft of the lip and palate is ideally closed with surgery before the first year of life. There are several centers in the Netherlands where these surgeries take place.

Abroad especially in low-income countries this is not always the case. In that situation, children with a schisis have to travel a considerable distance to another part of the country where care can be provided.

There are also many countries that lack regular domestic care for schisis surgery. This may be due to a lack of experience, knowledge, money or other resources. In those situations, children with a schisis rely on foreign teams such as Help2Smile to perform surgeries and transfer knowledge to local doctors.