"Undetected tongue tie"

When my daughter was assessed in hospital, no-one picked up on her tongue tie.

The following day the community midwife saw it, and said "see how it goes." In the second visit from the community midwife (day 4 after her birth) we were told to refer her for a tongue tie assessment. I was struggling to breastfeed effectively, and my daughter had lost 13% of her birth weight. 

At no point did either midwife explain the potential effects of tongue tie. Due to confusion over whether Hereford or Worcestershire were providing my post natal support, I had no face to face contact with anyone offering breastfeeding support. I was left feeling I had failed to breastfeed. After getting in touch with the NCT, they explained the problems associated with tongue tie, and recommended a private midwife.

The NHS tongue tie assessment would have taken over 3 weeks to assess my daughter. We went privately and were seen within 3 days. My daughter's tongue tie score was a 6, and very obvious. The midwife was disappointed that it had not been picked up in the hospital. The tie was cut, and immediately my daughter's feeding improved, her reflux became much better, and she wasn't crying in pain after a feed due to her intake of air. She has been much more content since the cut, and I dread to think what she would be like if we were still waiting for her assessment from the NHS.  

I feel disappointed this wasn't picked up immediately, and dealt with quickly, it made our first 2 weeks very fractious and stressful. I felt a failure as she was unable to breastfeed, and she was upset as she wasn't getting sufficient food, and too much air, causing her pain and stopping her from sleeping.