Beautiful Isabella came to visit me for her floral blue newborn studio session in Plymouth a few weeks ago. She was perfect and we got a range of lovely awake and sleepy shots!
Little Isabella was born with a soft cleft palate and spent the first few weeks of her life in Derriford hospital in Plymouth. She is so brave!
What is a cleft palate?
A cleft palate is where a baby is born with a gap in the roof of their mouth. A soft cleft palate means that the back of the mouth towards the throat is affected by a gap. For a more in depth description of a cleft palate please check out the NHS website.
Normally newborns come to me before they are 21 days old. This makes sleepy poses much easier to achieve as they are more likely to sleep in their session. As Isabella had spent so much time in and out of hospital she wasn’t able to come to the studio until she was 81 days old. I always try to cater for older babies if we can’t fit them in or they need to spend some time in hospital.
Will how we feed our baby affect our studio session?
Isabella was fitted with a feeding tube to help make feeding easier for her. Her Mummy has been trained with how to prepare her food and how to prepare the tube ahead of feeding. Newborn sessions are totally baby led. Newborn safety and comfort is SO important! This meant that Isabella was kept comfortable during her session and well fed! A happy baby means beautiful pictures!
How can YOU support babies with a cleft palate?
CLAPA is the Cleft Lip & Palate association and is fantastic for offering further support for families with babies affected by a cleft palate. Are you an adult affected by reading this blog post? You can help by donating here!
I LOVE shooting a floral blue newborn studio session in Plymouth and because she was SO well behaved I got the chance to include another beanbag colour. I’m loving greens too!
Little Isabella has a long road ahead of her but she is already doing so well! I can’t wait to update you with her Little Sitter session in a few months after she has had her surgery!
