The booming business of cutting out babies' tongues

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Tess Merrell had breastfed three babies and didn't expect to have any problems with the fourth. But after a month of struggling with her newborn, she hired Melanie Henstrom to help her. Henstrom, a lactation consultant, identified the culprit: The baby's tongue was stuck to the ground. from the mouth. It was a common problem, she said, that could be fixed with a quick intervention at a dentist's office. "It was advertised as a miracle cure ," said Merrell, the Boise (Idaho) football coach. Henstrom recommended a dentist, who in Decembe made a cut under the baby's tongue with a laser.

A few days later, the baby, Eleanor, refused to eat Panama Phone Number List and became dangerously dehydrated. , medical records show. She spent her first Christmas hooked up to a feeding tube. Undated photo provided by Tess Merrell shows her daughter, Eleanor, who spent Christmas Eve hooked up to a feeding tube. Photo: Tess Merrell via The New York Times For centuries, midwives and doctors cut lingual frenulums to facilitate breastfeeding. But the popularity of this procedure has skyrocketed in the last decade, as women come under increasing pressure to breastfeed.



According to a New York Times investigation, lactation consultants and dentists aggressively promote these interventions even in babies who show no signs of a true tongue tie and despite the slight risk of serious complications. A small part of the babies. They are born with a bundle of tissue. that joins the tip of the tongue to the floor of the mouth. In some severe cases, doctors remove that tissue. However, many lingual frenums are harmless and there is evidence that cutting them improves diet. They are rare.