PLEASE NOTE: For a variety of reasons I have decided – for the time being – not to do revisions. I am happy to assess your baby for ties, write referrals and help with all the feeding issues (Bottle and Breast/Chest) that come with a tie.
I trained in January 2014 at Southampton Hospital to revise tongue ties with scissors and will use the knowledge I have gained there and through my work with hundreds of tongue tied babies to support you, so you can get where you would like to be.
Photo: Paula Hinson
Let me tell you a few things about tongue ties:
They are something people used to know about a lot. Doctors and Midwives would look for them and clip them straight after birth.
For one reason or other all that changed and nowadays (depending on where you live) tongue ties are regarded as something that has no impact on breastfeeding and therefore doesn’t get looked for.
From my experience, that is not a view I can subscribe to.
The tongue has a very important part in the feeding process and a tie can create a variety of problems.
Tongue ties come in a lot of different looks (the above photo is just one example of many) and the problems you might encounter depend on where the tongue is tied and how tight.
The feeding can go smoothly for the first few weeks (sometimes even month) and it can be a disaster area from the word go: cracked, bleeding nipples, slow weight gain, a baby that can not latch or hold a latch are just some of the things you can encounter.
The difficulty is that these kind of problems can also appear with Positioning, Thrush, Raynauds Syndrom to name a few. Therefore a consultation is a great first step to get an idea of what might be going on and come up with a plan together, so you can get to wherever it is you are aiming for.
There are great debates if a tongue tie needs clipping if it is not or little impacting on breastfeeding. From an holistic point of view I would say yes, as the baby needs to put a lot of energy into all functions where the tongue is needed (feeding is just one) and this energy is then not available for other tasks e.g. playing, exploring etc. There are also long term issues like Sleep apnoe, Speech problems, Gut issues ect. My problem is I can’t tell you which ones will apply for your baby. I am happy to discuss everything with you so you can make a choice that feels right for you and your family.
I am sorry if I am not giving you some easy answers – I don’t think there are any – there is just the one that is right for you and hopefully the info on this page and the websites below will help you find it.
Websites for further information on tongue tie are on my ‘Link Page’.
Petra Hoehfurtner
Pricing:
Lactation Consultant visit (up to 2 Hours) – £ 80