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My newborn son having a tongue tie

Posted By Peapot1984

"My newborn son having a tongue tie"

About: Forth Valley Royal Hospital / Maternity unit

(as a parent/guardian),

I informed the duty doctor hours after my son's birth it appeared my son had a very prominent tongue tie (my daughter also had one), and requested it be referred for assessment and snipped. The doctor advised me to 'see how feeding goes' and go to the community breast feeding support at the hospital, rather than dealing with it straight away. I then repeatedly asked my midwife and health visitor for a referral as his latch was poor and feeding was incredibly stressful for both him and myself. Again nothing was done. Eventually the health visitor referred us and 3 weeks later we were 'assessed' at our local hospital. Then to be told we would have to wait another week to be assessed by the surgeon as he would have to decide what to do. Meantime from 2 weeks old my poor son has developed agonising reflux, and a huge amount of distress, both side effects of tongue tie. I feel utterly let down by the NHS.

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Responses

Response from Gail Bell, Deputy Head of Midwifery, Women and Children, NHS Forth Valley 7 years ago
Gail Bell
Deputy Head of Midwifery, Women and Children,
NHS Forth Valley

Submitted on 10/01/2018 at 10:45
Published on Care Opinion at 10:48

Dear Peapot1984

Thank you for your posting. I am truly sorry to hear that you feel let down with the care given to you and your new baby.

On reading your posting to take forward learning, I am wondering if your initial request to the Dr at your little boys birth was in a different hospital from FVRH?

Within Forth Valley we have a pathway of care when a tongue-tie is suspected to determine the impact on breastfeeding and baby’s well-being and consider if referral for division is the most appropriate option. We would ask mum to attend our Breastfeeding Additional Support Clinic to meet with the Infant Feeding Advisor for further review and plan of care.

The Infant Feeding Advisor co-ordinates the Forth Valley service which is staffed by visiting Paediatric Surgeons. Following a full breastfeeding assessment and review of the tongue-tie at the clinic, a decision is made in consultation with the parents, whether intervention is required and the appropriate referral is made. This is a weekly service at Forth Valley Royal Hospital with babies normally seen within a 2-3 week timeframe. I am sorry there has been a delay with your little boy being seen.

I would be happy to meet up with you to discuss your experience in more detail if this would be helpful? We are always keen to learn from our mothers to see where we can improve our care and patient experience and will continue to review the effectiveness of the tongue-tie service. My details are below.

Once again I am sorry for the upset your experience of our care has caused. I hope that your little boy is well and that following review and appropriate management his symptoms will start to settle.

With best wishes

Gail

Contact details: Email - gailbell@nhs.net. Telephone- 01324567484

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