"lack of tongue-tie provision"

I gave birth to my daughter Lily in the midwifery-led Active Birth Centre in the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital. This was an incredibly positive experience and I want to sincerely thank all of the midwives for the outstanding care they gave us. I had a long labour and the support of the staff was second to none. I felt safe, supported and reassured throughout my labour, delivery and postpartum. I was able to have an intervention free water birth which was an incredibly healing birth experience and I have had a fantastic recovery since. Thank you to all of the staff, in particular to Fionnuala, Lily, Sarah and Emma who looked after us directly and also to Christina. I highly recommend the ABC for a fantastic birthing experience. 

One bit of constructive feedback for the Trust is the lack of support available for a tongue tie inhibiting breastfeeding. This is not a criticism of the ABC, as they supported us as best they could, but an overall Trust issue. There is currently no provision whatsoever for tongue tie division in the Belfast trust. My daughter had a posterior tongue tie which left her unable to latch and unable to feed. She was born on a Friday evening and there is no infant feeding lead support over the weekend, so it was difficult to get specialist support and assessment. The midwives offered great support in trying to achieve a latch and they advised they thought she may have a tie, however they could not provide any further support. The Trust promotes breastfeeding however there is a real lack of support when it comes to navigating a tongue tie and accessing support outside of 9-5 midweek hours. I had to hand express to feed my baby and maintain supply until we could get her tie snipped privately at a significant cost - this is simply not good enough.