In Australia, a baby girl was born with bilateral congenital macrostomia, a rare malformation that manifests as a permanent smile.
- There are only 14 cases of bilateral congenital macrostomia worldwide.
- An operation is used to sew up the corners of the lips of people with this malformation.
“Blaize and I did not know this syndrome at all, explains Cristina Vercher, mother of a little girl born with a bilateral congenital macrostomia in Jam Press. I had never met anyone with a macrostomia so it was a huge shock”.
Discovery of the malformation during childbirth
A few months ago, in Australia, Cristina Vercher gave birth to her first daughter, Ayla Summer Mucha. But, during the delivery by caesarean section, the doctors in charge of the operation discover that the baby is suffering from a rare malformation, a bilateral congenital macrostomia.
This is physically manifested by a permanent smile on the infant’s face. The medical profession is surprised that she was not diagnosed before, during ultrasounds. “We quickly became concerned, says Cristina Vercher. Especially since the doctors took hours to give us an explanation”.
“I wondered what I had done wrong”
When the diagnosis falls, the young mother of 21 years doubts, questions herself. “As a mother, I kept wondering what I had done wrong because I had been particularly picky throughout my pregnancy.” she confides. Since this incident, the parents of little Ayla have decided to share their experience on social networks to raise public awareness of this malformation. For this, they chose TikTok and created a dedicated account, @cristinakylievercher… And the operation seems successful: their page is followed by more than 137,000 people.
On the platform, they post videos of their daughter of course, but also of their life as a couple and family. Above, some Internet users first asked the question “why is his mouth like that?”. But quickly, most of them fell in love with Ayla: “eher is so adorable! Your baby videos are so cute,” can we for example read.
