Stigmatization and felt needs of mothers in caregiving of infants not more than six months old with cleft lip and palate

Background: Cleft lip and palate (CLP) are congenital anomalies of the maxillofacial region, which may be associated with discrimination and stigmatization against the mother and child. Objective: The objective of this study was to identify stigmatization against mothers of children with CLP and determine the correlation between stigmatization and mother felt needs. Methodology: This cross-sectional study included mothers of children with CLP managed at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital from January 2023 to December 2024. Data on sociodemographic and CLP characteristics, parental discrimination, societal stigmatization, and mother felt needs were collected. Parental discrimination was assessed to determine mothers’ perception toward her ward after birth. Experience of societal stigmatization was classified as low, moderate, or high based on participants responses. Mother felt needs were assessed using a Likert scale questionnaire. Both univariate analyses and Spearman correlation coefficients were computed. Results: A total of 160 mothers with a median age of 30 (interquartile range 26.3–35.0) years were included in the study. Twenty-two (13.8%) mothers reported that they felt shame when their child was born, and 18 (11.3%) reported that they regretted having the child. The majority (82.4%) of mothers had low experience of societal stigmatization, 14 (8.8%) had moderate experience, and another 14 (8.8%) had high experience. For 56 (35.0%) mothers, feeding was their primary concern, for 42 (26.3%), potential speech challenges, and for 36 (22.5%), the physical appearance of their child. There were positive correlations between societal stigmatization and mother need for family/community acceptance, need for information on etiology of CLP, and speech challenges associated with CLP ( r < 0.2, P < 0.05 for all correlations). Conclusion: Mothers of children with CLP experienced stigmatization, which had a positive correlation with their need for family/community acceptance.