I am on a mission to help new parents avoid the unnecessary and potentially damaging surgical release of supposed lip and tongue ties.
But rather than hear from me (at this time anyway) I want to share the breastfeeding story of my lovely client Steph. Have a read…
“After a very long labour, I was so looking forward to breastfeeding our baby! We were able to have an hour of skin to skin contact after birth, but unfortunately she was not latching well.
In the hospital we were able to express and use finger feeds to give her my colostrum, and then we were discharged. At home as my supply grew we switched to expressing and bottle feeding. Throughout we were still trying to get her to latch and suckle, but she often wouldn’t try for very long and fall asleep or stop sucking.
Once my milk came in my breasts were very engorged, and this made latching impossible! I became very stressed and my milk supply dropped dramatically – I was not able to express enough for my daughter, so gave formula instead.
Feeling emotional and distressed we reached out to someone who we thought was a lactation consultant. After a rough and impersonal consultation – we were told that our baby had a lip tie and possible tongue tie. Myself working in the dental field was skeptical of this – but in desperation consented to booking in the surgery to release these so-called ties. She then left, and without leaving us any guidance/plan leading up to this appointment. There was no ongoing support and when I asked if she wanted to see us for a follow up she brushed this off. Feeding confused we sought a second opinion.
We found Kate, who after hearing my story via a text message called me immediately! She was very eager to assess our situation and encouraged us to consult with her before going down the path of a lip and tongue tie release. We met up and I immediately felt at ease and supported. She was amazing.
Kate was able to guide and help me move from pumping and bottle feeding, to nipple shields, to eventually my baby latching on her own. We met up with Kate multiple times and she was always on hand with support. We eventually said goodbye to pumps and bottles!
I am now 100% certain that my baby did not have a tongue or lip tie which required surgery for her to feed. And that with the support of a qualified and extremely dedicated consultant like Kate, my baby is feeding well, healthy and thriving. I absolutely cherish breastfeeding my baby girl, and I urge anyone who has been recommended a surgery like lip or tongue tie release to consult with Kate for a second opinion first. There are certainly times when the surgery for tie release is necessary, but this isn’t always the case and it shouldn’t be a blanket diagnosis. It was hard work which I honestly couldn’t have done without Kate, but it is worth it!”
