ANTENATAL EVENTS AMONGST MOTHERS OF BABIES WITH OROFACIAL CLEFTS

Exogenous factors occurring in the antenatal period could be contributory to the formation of orofacial cleft. This study sought to determine the antenatal events in mothers that may have contributed to orofacial cleft deformity of their children.

It was a prospective observational cross sectional study of consenting mothers of babies with orofacial cleft who met the inclusion criteria. The study instrument was a questionnaire.

Seventy-two mothers participated in the study. Most of these mothers were below 35 years of age and more than half, 43 (59.7%) were of the low-intermediate socioeconomic status. Although majority, 70 (97.2) of the mothers had antenatal care, the mean gestational age at commencement of antenatal care was 4 months. Almost all, 69 (95.8%) mothers had ultrasound scans however the detection of the orofacial cleft was in only 2 (2.8%) mothers. The commonest medication taken was haematinics, 26 (36.1%). Herbal medication, 15 (20.8%) and antimalarial, 12 (16.7%) were the other drugs more frequently taken. The mean age of pregnancy at commencement of these medications was 3.6 months.

Although uptake of antenatal service was common practice among mothers of babies with orofacial clefts in this study, no antenatal predisposing factors were identified.