Tongue tie is also known as ankyloglossia. This is when a baby is born with a short and tight lingual frenulum, the attachment of the tongue to the floor of the mouth. This prevents them properly extending their tongue out of the mouth and makes it difficult for them to latch onto the breast. It usually presents as poor feeding or when noticed by the mother, midwife or doctor on newborn checks.
Management
Mild tongue tie can be monitored and would not be expected to cause any issues.
When it affect feeding they may benefit from treatment. Tongue tie can be cured with a frenotomy. This involves a trained person cutting the tongue tie. This can usually be done on the ward or in the clinic without any anaesthetic. Complications are very rare, and include excessive bleeding, scar formation and infection.