We help to guide expectant mothers and families through the treatment their child will need for cleft lip and palate.
Children born with cleft lip and palate receive comprehensive, compassionate care from an expert team at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. We offer prenatal consulting for expectant mothers and families who have received a cleft lip or palate diagnosis for their unborn baby.
We help to guide you through the care your child will need so that you can focus on the joy of welcoming your new baby. With proper treatment children born with cleft lip and palate grow to lead happy, healthy lives. Our board-certified, fellowship-trained plastic surgeons have extensive experience treating children with cleft lip and palate.
Contact Us for a Prenatal Consult
For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call us at 727-767-2930.
We provide consult appointments at our main hospital location in St. Petersburg, and our Outpatient Care Centers in Tampa, Brandon and Sarasota:
St. Petersburg:
601 5th St. S
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Tampa:
12220 Bruce B Downs Blvd.
Tampa, FL 33612
Brandon:
885 S Parsons Ave.
Brandon, FL 33511
Sarasota:
5881 Rand Blvd.
Sarasota, FL 34238
We understand that receiving a cleft lip or palate diagnosis for your baby can be frightening and stressful. Our team will work to meet with you as soon as possible to answer your questions and increase your comfort with your child’s future treatment needs.
Watch and be inspired by Harper's story:
When Melissa and Creighton were looking for care for their baby who would be born with cleft lip — a condition Melissa had also been treated for as a child — they found the expert, compassionate team they were seeking at Johns Hopkins All Children’s. Learn how the cleft and craniofacial team helps patients like baby Harper.
Meet Our Team
Meet our physicians, nurse practitioners and cleft program coordinator who will provide you with information and answer your questions during the consultation process. Throughout your child’s treatment, they will also receive care from other experts such as our audiologists and speech-language and feeding therapists, as well as our highly skilled, Magnet®-designated nursing team.
Dr. Rottgers practices in the pediatric plastic and craniofacial surgery programs and is chief of the division of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. His areas of special interest are vascular anomalies and in the treatment of cleft and craniofacial conditions including cleft lip and palate, craniosynostosis, hemifacial microsomia, microtia, and other abnormalities of the face and jaw.
View S. Alex Rottgers’s Bio
Dr. Halsey is a pediatric plastic surgeon at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. She joined the hospital staff in 2021. Dr. Halsey earned her medical degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine in Memphis, Tennessee. She completed a residency in integrated plastic surgery from Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School in Newark, New Jersey, where she was administrative chief resident. She then completed a fellowship in pediatric craniofacial surgery from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
View Jordan Halsey’s Bio
Dr. Ruas specializes in plastic surgery and cleft and craniofacial surgery at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and is the director of plastic surgery resident education. He joined the hospital staff in 1990.
View Ernesto Ruas’s Bio
Stephanie DiGiovanni is a physician assistant in the pediatric plastic and reconstructive surgery program at Johns Hopkins All Children’s. She joined the hospital staff in 2022. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins All Children’s, she worked in trauma surgery/acute care surgery critical care at Regional Medical Center at Bayonet Point in Hudson, Florida. She earned her Master of Science in physician assistant studies from South College in Knoxville, Tennessee.
View Stephanie DiGiovanni’s Bio
Aleshia Pringle is an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) in the cleft and craniofacial program at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. Her clinical focus is to provide comprehensive care for patients and families with cleft and craniofacial differences, as well as pediatric vascular malformations and general pediatric plastic surgery care. She is also interested in multidisciplinary collaboration for cleft lip and palate, Pierre Robin sequence, preparing and assisting in postoperative recovery and optimizing patient and family access to pediatric healthcare.
View Aleshia Pringle’s Bio
Taryl Crisp is the cleft and craniofacial program coordinator at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. Previously, Crisp was a care coordinator for the State of Florida Children’s Medical Services Program where she worked with children with cleft palate and/or craniofacial anomalies. There she coordinated care and provided case management for families whose children had complex medical and special health care needs. Crisp is a member of the Florida Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association and has been a certified case manager since 2017.
Why Choose Johns Hopkins All Children’s
Cleft lip and palate are among the most common craniofacial anomalies that we treat. It occurs when the bones and tissues that form the nose, lip and roof of the mouth do not form properly while the baby is in utero. Children may be born with clefts that affect their lip, palate or both.
Babies will typically have their first surgery within the first few months of life, and then will have subsequent surgeries throughout childhood and adolescence. As part of your consultation, we will thoroughly explain the treatment timeline, so you know what to expect as your child grows. Our team is available to you throughout your pregnancy to answer any questions that arise.
Once your baby is born, we provide consistent, compassionate care from your child’s initial surgery in the first months of life, all through childhood, adolescence and early adulthood.
Our cleft lip and palate prenatal consulting services are part of the Cleft and Craniofacial Program at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. The program is approved by the Commission of Approval of Teams as meeting the standards set by the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association and Cleft Palate Foundation.
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