Newborn with Cleft Lip Abandoned at Cape Coast Hospital
Operation Smile Ghana steps in to provide care and corrective surgery for the abandoned newborn as hospital authorities search for the mother
- A newborn with a cleft lip was abandoned by her mother at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital
- The baby is now under the care of a midwife, with support from Operation Smile Ghana
- More than 400 children are born with cleft conditions in Ghana each year, often facing stigma and neglect
A newborn baby girl with a cleft lip has been abandoned by her mother at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, sources reveal.
The mother reportedly left the hospital secretly on Friday, November 28, after learning of her child’s condition and has not returned since.
Hospital authorities are actively trying to locate the mother, while the infant remains under the care of a midwife at the facility.
Operation Smile Ghana, an organization providing free cleft lip and palate surgeries, has stepped in to support the child.
“We have put the child on our nutritional support until she reaches the appropriate age for surgery. By God’s grace, the operation will take place in the first or second quarter of next year to ensure her survival. Our goal is to safeguard the child’s well-being and ensure she undergoes reconstructive procedures so that, hopefully, the mother sees her and regrets abandoning her,” said Peter Kwaku Titiati, Country Director of Operation Smile Ghana.
The Ministry of Health reports that more than 400 children are born with cleft conditions in Ghana annually. Cultural stigma surrounding the deformity often leads some parents to hide or, in extreme cases, abandon their babies.
In 2025 alone, 120 children diagnosed with cleft conditions across the Central, Western, and Western North regions have received corrective surgery.
