Tongue-Tie division service on the NHS in Cambridgeshire
59 Comments
A
Alison Thornley
12 years ago
This applies to all areas of the country. Support is needed for all mothers who have difficulties breastfeeding, both before and after tongue-tie revision. Above all healthcare providers need to have greater awareness of this common issue and they need to listen to mothers when they say that something is not right.
H
Hayley Martin
12 years ago
My son had this and I was given no advise or referred to anyone. I went private on the end as was at witts end. Definately need more help with this x
M
Miriam Newland
12 years ago
this also extends to restrictive upper lip tie
A
Anita Smith
12 years ago
I'm writing as a mother of a child born in the Southampton District. Here we have good tongue tie support and tongue tie division is available with only minimal time taken. I understand the pain and anguish of the mothers and babies before a division is undertaken and also how grateful I am that I could have it done. Without it I would have undoubtedly stopped breastfeeding when my baby needed it most. This must be available to all those who need it, regardless of where they live. Cambridgeshire, you need to undertake provision of this service and adequately train support workers because as it is, you are failing parents and their children.
R
Rosalind Cullen
12 years ago
My son who is now almost 4 yrs of age was born with 100 % tongue-tie. I had to endure 10 excruciating days of midwives and health visitors pushing him onto my breast telling me I was holding him incorrectly or it was bad positioning on both our parts etc.
Day 11 we went to Luton Maxilofacial Unit to have his tongue-tie dealt with, i was told not to feed him before the procedure was carried out.
After the procedure he was handed back to me and I was told to breast feed him. I had blood all over my chest, and still he could not feed.
I had to bottle feed him in the end which resulted in colic and reflux and numerous visits to the hospital.
I do not wish for anyone to go through the stress and trauma I went through for the sake of a tiny operation.
Tongue-tie should be dealt with at birth it's as simple as that.
S
sarah jones
12 years ago
Featured
Having had to travel to bedford from cambridge to have my sons tt assessed and snipped I know how needed this service is in this area, travelling that far with a hungry baby to get advice as no one was able to see him locally was horrible.
J
Jocasta
12 years ago
As a mother of a tongue tied baby, I was informed after giving birth that my daughters tongue tie was minimal and would not cause any disruption to feeding. I was unable to feed for 24 hours with no access to bottles and formula milk - it was only clear that I couldn't feed after about 16 hours, 10pm and baby was starving. All night I tried and phoned the hospital who told me to keep trying. All visitng midwives advised meways to latch baby on and concluded that I was doing everything right, still my daughter couldn't feed. I attended breastfeeding clinics, phoned helplines and no one suggested tongue tie division. After two weeks and bleeding nipples and lots of tears from everyone a friend suggested tongue tie to be the problem. I contacted a private practitioner after friends said the NHS were reluctant and slow to react (when you are feeding up to 10 times a day you do not have time to wait) and within 12 hours of the division there was a massive improvement and minimal discomfort. Once my nipples had healed I had no discomfort when feeding and went onto feed until my daughter was 10 months. Without the division I wouldhave stopped by 3 weeks and always felt a failiure because I really wanted to breastfeed.
B
Bryony Allen
12 years ago
Not had any experience with tongue tied babies but anything to help! Hope it gets sorted!
J
jayne rose
12 years ago
it is ridiculous that tts arent just fixed my 2nd daughter's was cut at 5 days old but it took me 6 weeks of expressing before she finally latched i sought help privately as i knew Cambridgeshire are ignorant to TTs as an issue
L
Linda Quinn
12 years ago
It needs change
M
Monica Howlett
12 years ago
My son had a tongue tie and developed jaundice because he couldn't feed properly. I had to sort it out privately as they wouldn't event get me to the NHS specialist!! Sadly, my son never latched on and even though I pumped to try and keep my supply going I eventually dried up. Seeing as it's in the news all the time how less and less people breastfeed in the uk, the NHS should be trying everything they can to make it easier for women to do it, not harder!!!!
E
Eleanor Dent
12 years ago
I had my son's tongue tie divided by an IBCLC when he was 4 weeks old after being refused a tongue tie referal from my HV. He has a dairy allergy which would have meant standard formula would not have been a suitable breastmilk substitute. Having his tongue tie divided was crucial to the success of our breastfeeding relationship, and something that should be available and accessible to all women in Cambridgeshire.
M
Megan Stephenson
12 years ago
When tongue-tie can cause every breastfeed to be agony for the mother and exhausting for the baby, this straight forward and quick procedure should be available within hours, not weeks.
T
Tania Michelle Taylor
12 years ago
I firmly believe that early diagnosis and treatment is so important. The sooner it's treated, the better, if that is the course of action that the parents have decided to take.
C
claire sharpe
12 years ago
So important! We had to travel to another county to have this procedure carried out on the NHS which luckily for us was a quick referral and no problems since
A
Abigail Briggs
12 years ago
My daughters PTT ended up being diagnosed and divided twice by a private IBCLC in Cambridgeshire. I would love to see faster diagnosis and referrals for division on the NHS as I feel confident this would improve our breastfeeding rates.
A
Anna Richardson
12 years ago
I have just had my 6 year old's tongue tie divided as his speech is impeded. This was done as he is seeing a paediatrician about other health issues. He & his older sister both 'failed to thrive' when they were babies. Rather than their tongue ties being noticed & dealt with, enabling them to be able to breastfeed more efficiently, I was pressured to feed them on high calorie formula milk. Tongue tie division in Cambridgeshire really matters to me.
L
Letty jeffreys
12 years ago
My son has just had tongue tie division at almost five months old, in the end I had to go private after bring turned away several times by the nhs. The feeding improved immediately after the division
V
Victoria Greenly
12 years ago
More NHS TT clinics are now being opened in London hospitals and we hope the beginnings of this issue for breastfeeding mothers is being taken more seriously there - so maybe Cambridge could follow suit?
This applies to all areas of the country. Support is needed for all mothers who have difficulties breastfeeding, both before and after tongue-tie revision. Above all healthcare providers need to have greater awareness of this common issue and they need to listen to mothers when they say that something is not right.
My son had this and I was given no advise or referred to anyone. I went private on the end as was at witts end. Definately need more help with this x
this also extends to restrictive upper lip tie
I'm writing as a mother of a child born in the Southampton District. Here we have good tongue tie support and tongue tie division is available with only minimal time taken. I understand the pain and anguish of the mothers and babies before a division is undertaken and also how grateful I am that I could have it done. Without it I would have undoubtedly stopped breastfeeding when my baby needed it most. This must be available to all those who need it, regardless of where they live. Cambridgeshire, you need to undertake provision of this service and adequately train support workers because as it is, you are failing parents and their children.
My son who is now almost 4 yrs of age was born with 100 % tongue-tie. I had to endure 10 excruciating days of midwives and health visitors pushing him onto my breast telling me I was holding him incorrectly or it was bad positioning on both our parts etc. Day 11 we went to Luton Maxilofacial Unit to have his tongue-tie dealt with, i was told not to feed him before the procedure was carried out. After the procedure he was handed back to me and I was told to breast feed him. I had blood all over my chest, and still he could not feed. I had to bottle feed him in the end which resulted in colic and reflux and numerous visits to the hospital. I do not wish for anyone to go through the stress and trauma I went through for the sake of a tiny operation. Tongue-tie should be dealt with at birth it's as simple as that.
Having had to travel to bedford from cambridge to have my sons tt assessed and snipped I know how needed this service is in this area, travelling that far with a hungry baby to get advice as no one was able to see him locally was horrible.
As a mother of a tongue tied baby, I was informed after giving birth that my daughters tongue tie was minimal and would not cause any disruption to feeding. I was unable to feed for 24 hours with no access to bottles and formula milk - it was only clear that I couldn't feed after about 16 hours, 10pm and baby was starving. All night I tried and phoned the hospital who told me to keep trying. All visitng midwives advised meways to latch baby on and concluded that I was doing everything right, still my daughter couldn't feed. I attended breastfeeding clinics, phoned helplines and no one suggested tongue tie division. After two weeks and bleeding nipples and lots of tears from everyone a friend suggested tongue tie to be the problem. I contacted a private practitioner after friends said the NHS were reluctant and slow to react (when you are feeding up to 10 times a day you do not have time to wait) and within 12 hours of the division there was a massive improvement and minimal discomfort. Once my nipples had healed I had no discomfort when feeding and went onto feed until my daughter was 10 months. Without the division I wouldhave stopped by 3 weeks and always felt a failiure because I really wanted to breastfeed.
Not had any experience with tongue tied babies but anything to help! Hope it gets sorted!
it is ridiculous that tts arent just fixed my 2nd daughter's was cut at 5 days old but it took me 6 weeks of expressing before she finally latched i sought help privately as i knew Cambridgeshire are ignorant to TTs as an issue
It needs change
My son had a tongue tie and developed jaundice because he couldn't feed properly. I had to sort it out privately as they wouldn't event get me to the NHS specialist!! Sadly, my son never latched on and even though I pumped to try and keep my supply going I eventually dried up. Seeing as it's in the news all the time how less and less people breastfeed in the uk, the NHS should be trying everything they can to make it easier for women to do it, not harder!!!!
I had my son's tongue tie divided by an IBCLC when he was 4 weeks old after being refused a tongue tie referal from my HV. He has a dairy allergy which would have meant standard formula would not have been a suitable breastmilk substitute. Having his tongue tie divided was crucial to the success of our breastfeeding relationship, and something that should be available and accessible to all women in Cambridgeshire.
When tongue-tie can cause every breastfeed to be agony for the mother and exhausting for the baby, this straight forward and quick procedure should be available within hours, not weeks.
I firmly believe that early diagnosis and treatment is so important. The sooner it's treated, the better, if that is the course of action that the parents have decided to take.
So important! We had to travel to another county to have this procedure carried out on the NHS which luckily for us was a quick referral and no problems since
My daughters PTT ended up being diagnosed and divided twice by a private IBCLC in Cambridgeshire. I would love to see faster diagnosis and referrals for division on the NHS as I feel confident this would improve our breastfeeding rates.
I have just had my 6 year old's tongue tie divided as his speech is impeded. This was done as he is seeing a paediatrician about other health issues. He & his older sister both 'failed to thrive' when they were babies. Rather than their tongue ties being noticed & dealt with, enabling them to be able to breastfeed more efficiently, I was pressured to feed them on high calorie formula milk. Tongue tie division in Cambridgeshire really matters to me.
My son has just had tongue tie division at almost five months old, in the end I had to go private after bring turned away several times by the nhs. The feeding improved immediately after the division
More NHS TT clinics are now being opened in London hospitals and we hope the beginnings of this issue for breastfeeding mothers is being taken more seriously there - so maybe Cambridge could follow suit?