There currently seems to be no coordinated effort to diagnose and treat tongue and lip tie issues across DHBs in New Zealand. I am calling on the MOH to officially recognise tongue tie as a potential impediment to breastfeeding.

You can ask any woman about their birth and subsequent efforts to breastfeed and they have or will know someone who has had a baby requiring medical intervention of a tongue or lip tie. This procedure must be carried out by a trained specialist, who seem to be far and few between. Also the procedure is often at a potentially huge cost to family as they are generally not covered by post natal care of baby or mother.

"Breast is best" is the message from the Ministry of Health (MOH), so it needs to support all facets of this concept, which I believe includes making sure that staff are adequately trained and educated in this issue. Tongue tie and lip tie are not something for medical staff to "personally believe in". It exists, it is an issue, and tongue and lip ties need to be taken seriously and need to be part of the common discourse had in maternity wards and by midwives across New Zealand. We believe that by improving systems around tongue and lip tie diagnosis it will encourage more women to breastfeed successfully and with less stress at an often already chaotic time of life. Holistically this will also help improve maternal mental health. The stresses of not being able to feed baby is one of the major issues new mothers face.

I am requesting urgent action on the situation for babies with tongue tie in New Zealand by solidifying the governments role in supporting, protecting and promoting breastfeeding, thus recognising how tongue tie affects breastfeeding; recognising the current sub standard and incohesive systems for diagnosing and treating tongue tie across DHBS; and creating areas for improvement in the diagnosis, treatment and ongoing support of mother and child affected by it.

My personal experience is minor compared to some story's I have heard/read. After the birth of my baby in 2014 a staff member suggested a tongue tie may be stopping him from feeding successfully. The one staff member who was trained to deal with this would be in Tuesday. My baby was born Friday night. In the meantime I had to struggle away using a nipple shield (which I still use now - however, that says more about the support (or lack of) I received to return to breastfeeding without it). We were being discharged from hospital (after my emergency c section) on Monday morning. We live 2 and a half hours away from Hamilton. My sister did some research and found a trained midwife who could carry out the procedure on the Monday morning, thankfully. The procedure was done and we were able to head to the birthing unit to carry on our the whirlwind journey that is being a first time parent.

My story could have been much less stressful as anyone reading could imagine. There are many stories to be shared and these can be individually provided to the MOH if this will support change. If you have a story you would like to share please email myttstory@gmail.com. Or please find me personally at my page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Yourvoicemattersnz or please join the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/NewZealandTongueTieSupportGroupResources. If you are looking for resources on this issue http://tonguetienz.weebly.com/ is a great website to access.

I would like to encourage Jonathan Coleman and MOH to seriously look into this issue by making diagnosis and education of tongue and lip tie a priority.