"Tongue Tie"

I breastfed my baby from birth but had feeding issues with latch which made it painful for me and difficult for my baby. Baby seemed hungry as was unsettled a lot too, so wasn't getting what they needed from me.

A tongue tie was noticed by midwife when baby was just 4 days old. I had a visit from infant feeding team the next day and so midwife said they would be able to help. At this visit baby had lost 6% of birth weight. The feeding team said they could do nothing for a tongue tie unless referred. They helped with position but this was not solving the real issue.

Midwife then referred for tongue tie when baby was over a week old. Infant feeding spoke with me the next day to explain there had to be a further 3 visits from feeding team before we would be invited to clinic for tongue tie assessment. My baby had since lost even more weight, almost a whole pound under birth weight. I was also in a lot of pain after 2 bouts of mastitis and exhausted from next to no sleep due to baby not settling at all.

The news that we had to wait even more time began to impact my mental health as I was worried my baby would continue to lose weight and I was feeling so unwell. It was recommended I top up with formula and express, this became even more of a burden on top of an already stressful feeding experience.

After 2 weeks breastfeeding, I gave up and switched baby to formula. We have since had tongue tie divided privately and feeding is now improved with baby gaining weight and content. I am very lucky I was able to take baby to be seen privately, not everyone can. I also believe that I could have continued to breastfeed had the tongue tie been taken more seriously and dealt with quickly. It is likely a lot of women give up breastfeeding prematurely as a result of this.

I feel that more training is required in this area so more staff are able to adequately diagnose tongue tie and perform the division procedure. It would help a lot of women and babies in their feeding journeys and reduce unnecessary stress at what should be a joyous time.