What is Tongue-tie?
Everybody has a frenulum, but ‘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 (breast or bottle), clicky sounds, lip blisters, reflux, and fussiness, which further affects milk supply, jaundice and poor weight gain, even tightness into the neck and shoulders; ultimately overall this can spoil a wonderful start to your feeding journey.
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. This is why it is essential to have a Lactation Consultant complete the assessment.
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 a 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 so safe and quick a procedure, that the CQC allow registered practitioners to perform it in the home environment. Babies will honestly often settle within a few minutes with all the loving parental care you give. I will be encouraging you to cuddle and feed your baby straight away afterwards- the majority of the time with an 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 consultation (eg feeding assessment and support) plus tongue-tie division £195
Want to see more?
Here’s a before and after photo- you can really see the difference from the restriction to the mobility of the tongue! Baby of 5 day old baby, struggling with painful feeds, nipple trauma and occasional lip blisters. History of tongue tie in immediate family. Divided really well, and Mum reported an instant improvement with feeling better after division- settled straight away with a breastfeed and a cuddle.
