Felt Needs of Parents Who Have a 0-to 3-Month-Old Child With a Cleft Lip and Palate

Objective: To describe the felt needs of parents who have children from birth to 3 months of age with a cleft lip and palate. Design: Parents were interviewed using structured and semistructured questions at 1 week and 1, 2, and 3 months after birth. Participants: Fifteen parents, including 12 mothers and three fathers, of patients with cleft lip and palate aged 0 to 3 months were interviewed. Results: During the first week after birth, the majority of parents needed to know about feeding and surgery. At 1, 2, and 3 months after birth, more information was required, especially on different surgeries during those periods and speech problems. In addition, a number of parents requested funding for every period, and very few had expectations of moral support from health care professionals. Conclusions: The felt needs expressed in this study changed according to periods of time and mainly concerned feeding, speech problems, and surgery, as well as financial support. The needs of parents, particularly during the transitional period, should be considered as a provision of holistic care for patients with cleft lip and palate and their families.