Babies in east Suffolk can now get treatment for tongue-tie closer to home following the launch of a dedicated clinic at Ipswich Hospital.
The new clinic offers quick and painless tongue-tie divisions to make it easier for babies to feed. It will be led by midwife and infant feeding co-ordinator Linda Page, who has been specially trained to carry out the procedure on babies who are up to 10 weeks old.
The clinic will bring treatment closer to home for parents and their newborns, who previously had to travel to Norwich for a division. It will initially cater for five babies each week.
“We are really pleased to be able to launch this new clinic at Ipswich Hospital, which should make a real difference to families across east Suffolk,” said Linda. “Research shows that around half of babies who have a tight frenulum have difficulty feeding, while the condition can also cause problems for breastfeeding mothers, such as low milk supply and mastitis.
“The procedure is very simple to carry out, and only takes a few seconds to complete. Mums are able to start feeding their baby straight afterwards, with many finding it much easier once the division has taken place.
“We hope that the clinic will support more new mums to continue breastfeeding where possible, in turn giving their babies the best possible start in life.”
Anyone who is concerned their baby may have tongue-tie should speak to their health visitor or midwife. Treatment is not needed in every case, and is only necessary if the tongue-tie is making it difficult for the baby to feed.
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