Hi all! I'm fairly new to LactNet, I guess a lurker!, so let me introduce myself. My name is Samantha Purnell, I'm a registered nurse currently doing telephone triage for the largest hospital system in Delaware (USA), a wanna-be lactation consultant (the breastfeeding calls I answer are often frustrating - I'd like to do it more hands on), and already totally addicted to this list!! I'm a couple of days behind on my mail, but Maureen had posted about info on cleft palates and the widesmiles website. I recently searched for info on this topic as follow-up for a call I had. Most of the information regarding clefts and breastfeeding was fairly negative and disappointing, but I did find some really good info at www.cleft.org. Now this is a hospital's web page - kind of advertising their services, but it sounds wonderful. Go under "after repair" and at the bottom there is a button specifically for breastfeeding (that's how I found it anyway). This hospital is doing very early cleft repairs and talks about how the soft breast is flexible and ideal for the baby's mouth and that breastmilk is the optimal choice for feeding a cleft lip/palate baby b/c it is non-irritating to the mucous membranes if it leaks into the nose, etc. Anyway I think it's worth a look!! :>) Samantha Purnell, RN (nursing mom to Kayla 17 months and aspiring lactation consultant - private e-mail would be appreciated if anyone has words of wisdom on pursuing this!!) [log in to unmask]