The Bill and Pam Smith Family Foundation gave $600,000 to Children’s of Alabama. The donation allows Children’s to offer Nasoalveolar Molding (NAM) procedures.
Jessica Mitchell’s son Crew had it as a child. Jessica Mitchell revealed that Crew had a bi-lateral cleft lip. “One went through the nose and one was half the lip.”
Mitchell says Crew adapted to it with time. After two weeks, the youngster started eating better with the mouthpiece. Three weeks to five months, he wore the device. 7 February 2022: Crew’s operation.
When you have a newborn, there are so many emotional issues to cope with, so it’s not easy, but it’s short.
Crew is 14 months old and beaming. His mom claims he’s laid-back and loves to giggle despite a hard first year.
NAM is a pre-surgical cleft lip and palate therapy that moulds and repositions nose and mouth tissues before surgery. Infants wear a custom-fitted appliance for 12 weeks, up to 23 hours a day.
Treatment is to improve the child’s ability to eat, speak, and hear normally and to obtain a normal facial look.
Procedures Include- Cleft lip repair, Cleft palate repair, Ear tube surgery, and Surgery to reconstruct appearance.
