Q: Tongue tie division for breastfeeding?
2 Apr, 09 | by Bob Phillips
Have you (yet) had a parent ask for a referral for tongue tie division to assist with a poorly feeding baby? What is the right answer to this question; “Of course, there are good trial data to support it”,
“Well, if you want but there’s no good evidence for it.” or
“I think that any form of mutilation of a child without strong evidence is ultimately harmful and may be unethical.”
This answer to this question may well be along soon …
Acknowledgement: Photo from Qole Perjoran, CreativeCommons
Personally I think we miss the point- surely tongue tie is most important when it comes to the teenage years and kissing
james robertson
June 22nd, 2009 at 1:43 pm
As NICE has recommended, there are a group of babies with tongue-ties who cannot breastfeed, or may have problems bottle feeding.
Any Lactation consultant or infant feeding Advisor knows that a tongue-tie will need to be excluded if there are problems latching on, there are mutilated nipples ( forget child mutilation), or the baby is essentially feeding continuously.
The published RCTs all support divison for symptomatic babies.
So, If asked, the correct reply is “Yes, of course”.
mervyn griffiths
September 16th, 2009 at 2:42 pm