Thanks to Dr. Cuadros — and Smile Train — having a cleft on the Navajo reservations of New Mexico is no longer a sentence to a life of isolation and sickness.
Nurse Celeste always tried to avoid working with the babies with clefts in her neonatal ward because she felt unable to meet their needs. Then her son was born with a cleft.
When Cristina learned her son would have a cleft, she sought comfort and support, but found none, even from the local community. Until she met Dr. Dávalos. In the 10 years since, they've changed what it means to have a cleft in Ecuador, together.