What is Tongue-tie?
Tongue tie is an overly tight frenulum which restricts the ability of an infant to mobilise their tongue effectively for feeding. Some may be a classic heart-shaped tongue, whilst others are deeper making them more difficult to visualise without a thorough assessment by a specialist. It often means difficulty with latching, causing painful nipples, noisy and messy feeds, reflux, and fussiness, which further affects milk supply, jaundice and poor weight gain.
Best standard of care?
Gold standard care is a thorough infant feeding assessment prior to frenulotomy and quality infant feeding support afterwards. Missing this step will reduce effectiveness of a division, and runs the risk of procedure not making a difference to the infant feeding issues, being performed unnecessarily or reattaching.
What does the research say?
Read the NICE guidelines from 2005 on Tongue-tie which says ‘In one case series of 215 babies, 80% (173/215) of mothers reported improved breastfeeding 24 hours after the procedure. In another case series of 123 babies, 100% (70/70) of mothers reported improved latch after the procedure, and the 53 mothers with nipple pain noted significant improvement immediately after the procedure. In a third case series, 100% (36/36) of babies were reported to have normal tongue motion at 3 months’.
How can I help?
As a midwife, a lactation consultant (IBCLC) and certified Frenulotomy practitioner, I pride myself on offering a holistic infant feeding service- so you get a short waiting time and a big time slot in the comfort of your own home. It is a quick procedure and babies will honestly often settle within a few minutes. I will be encouraging you to cuddle and feed your baby straight away afterwards- often with instant improvement to feeding, although this can take up to a few weeks as the muscle of the tongue relearns how to work effectively.
- IBCLC feeding consultation £95 (can assess but division is extra)
- Tongue-tie division (if already had feeding consultation) £100
- IBCLC consultation (eg feeding support) plus tongue-tie division £195
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