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Inside the Booming Business of Cutting Babies’ Tongues (www.nytimes.com)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

34 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Dentists and lactation consultants around the country are pushing “tongue-tie releases” on new mothers struggling to breastfeed.

Tess Merrell had breastfed three babies and never expected trouble with her fourth. But after a month of struggling with her newborn, she hired Melanie Henstrom for help.

Ms. Henstrom, a lactation consultant, identified a culprit: The infant’s tongue was tethered to the bottom of her mouth. It was a common problem, she said, and could be fixed with a quick procedure at a dentist’s office.

“It was touted as this miracle cure,” said Ms. Merrell, a high school soccer coach in Boise, Idaho.

Ms. Henstrom recommended a dentist, who in December 2017 cut under the baby’s tongue with a laser. Within days, the infant, Eleanor, was refusing to eat and had become dangerously dehydrated, medical records show. She spent her first Christmas on a feeding tube.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Women receive an immense amount of pressure to nurse their newborns to the point where they are made to feel like they are failing as a mother if they don't or can't. Lactation consultants are the worst at this, many refusing to admit that sometimes it just won't happen and the mother will need to look into alternatives.

Don't discount the business around lactation and nursing. Some are most definitely taking advantage of the societal pressure to the mom's for the money. Any good dentist will be honest with the mother when a procedure is truly needed or not, but it's not always easy to tell if you're listening to a good one or not

Parents definitely have a responsibility, but don't place all the blame on them in this situation.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Well said. To add to this, mother's are still going through a hurricane of hormones and exhaustion when both they and the baby are just starting to learn how to latch. I remember my wife crying saying she was a bad mother, and the baby hates her, and that she is so stupid to think she could do this. It was heartbreaking.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

I remember my wife crying saying she was a bad mother, and the baby hates her, and that she is so stupid to think she could do this. It was heartbreaking.

Same here. My wife's milk never came in. She had 3 different lactation nurses tell her "don't worry, it'll happen, just keep trying". Not once did anyone talk to her about the fact that it doesn't happen for some women. Not once did they provide support for the increasing likelihood that it wouldn't happen. It was just "keep trying, the milk will come".

I don't discount the benefits of breastfeeding, but I think our medical community needs to take a step back a little and think about this article and the other side effects of all that pressure they're putting on mothers.