Our Forever Smiles: Cleft Mom Diaries and Support

About Our Forever Smiles: Cleft Mom Diaries and Support

Whether you've just learned the difficult news of your baby's cleft lip/palate, you're in the middle of your cleft lip/palate journey, or you're a seasoned pro who knows the many challenges of children who are born with clefts all too well, this podcast is for you! Join your host, Laura C. Arroyo, mother of a daughter born with a cleft palate, in a weekly conversation about everything from feeding and speech therapy to surgeries and genetics. We'll share tips and advice from other moms who have been there and even share a little joy in the process. If you're a cleft mom, or if you know someone who is, please subscribe to the Our Forever Smiles Podcast. We're here to support you on your journey. Want to share your story or sponsor the show? Email us at ourforeversmiles@gmail.com

Publisher

Laura C Arroyo

Category

education · kids & family

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

5 Mar 2024

Latest episode

20 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

23 of 146 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   20 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Beyond the First Surgery: Understanding Lifelong Cleft Care | Dr. Christopher Michael Runyan

   Host Laura Arroyo interviews craniofacial surgeon Dr. Christopher Michael Runyan about lifelong cleft care, from early surgeries to adult treatment and emerging technologies.

2. 

   13 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Learning to Live With the Unknown: A Cleft Mom's Story | Christine Boddy

   Host Laura Arroyo interviews Christine Boddy, a mother of six, about navigating the uncertainties and finding peace in her son's cleft lip and palate journey.

3. 

   6 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Cleft, Heart Surgery & Choosing Joy Through Every Season | Shannon Hennen

   Host Laura Arroyo interviews Shannon Hennen, a mom and storyteller, about finding joy and resilience through her son's complex medical journey and evolving family dynamics.

Inside a recent episode

Beyond the First Surgery: Understanding Lifelong Cleft Care | Dr. Christopher Michael Runyan

Published 20 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] The one thing you have to weigh in your mind as a surgeon, what are the risks? Any surgery has risk. If you do fat grafting in a younger patient and if they gain a whole bunch of weight when they're older, that fat's going to get bigger too. So if you're putting that fat in the back of the throat, And, you know, in a younger child, and then they gain a lot of weight when they're older, then if that plumps up, there's some risk of having sleep apnea because now things are crowded. And it's hard to do liposuction in the back of the throat, you know. So, you know, that's something you just need to have an educated conversation with and educate the patients about that risk and have them weigh that out. […]

Who has been a guest on Our Forever Smiles: Cleft Mom Diaries and Support

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Christopher Michael Runyan
• Christine Bodie
• Shannon Hennen
• Alyson Ferguson
• Ebony Waldrum

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

8,081

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

30 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

23 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 74 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

92

Social presence

0

YouTube

68

Engagement

71

Contact Our Forever Smiles: Cleft Mom Diaries and Support

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Our Forever Smiles: Cleft Mom Diaries and Support