New clinic helps tots with rare condition

SUCCESS . . . Val (left) with Louise Taylor and tiny Maxwell George Price

MORE babies are being breast-fed thanks to the opening of a second ‘tongue-tie’ clinic at The Royal Oldham Hospital.

Pioneering midwife Val Finigan — infant feeding co-ordinator for Pennine Acute Trust — has launched an extra clinic to double the number of babies and mothers benefiting from treatment for the rare condition.

Tongue-tie is when the baby’s tongue is attached to the bottom of the mouth by a thin piece of skin, which restricts the forward movement of the tongue and can lead to problems with breast-feeding.

The problem can be corrected with a quick procedure called frenulotomy, which involves snipping the thin piece of skin and freeing the tongue.

Val launched the North-West’s first midwife-led clinic to both perform frenulotomy and offer additional breast-feeding advice, over a year ago.

Since then, she has treated more than 300 babies. The success of the clinic prompted her to open a second last month.

Val said: “The second clinic means we can treat double the number of babies — 12 rather than six each week.

“This will help to meet the high demand for the service.

“It also means we can provide even faster treatment to help mums breastfeed their babies in the all-important early months of their lives.”

While most families are from across Greater Manchester, others travel from Lancashire, Derbyshire and Cheshire.

Among the first to benefit from the additional clinic were Louise Taylor and her new-born son, Maxwell George Price.

Louise, of Ramsbottom, said: “I had a home birth and the tongue-tie was detected shortly after by the midwife.

“I tried to breast-feed and it was OK at first but became progressively painful. Maxwell’s feeding was frequent and fretful.

“The midwife gave me Val’s number and I was delighted to get an appointment within a couple of days.

“If I hadn’t got the appointment so quickly, I may well have given up breast-feeding as the pain was so excruciating.

“I would recommend other mums in a similar situation to seek help.

“There has been a great improvement with his feeding, he is putting on weight and for me, the discomfort has gone.”