A qualitative description of mothers' experiences breastfeeding a child with tongue-tie

Abstract

Tongue-tie is characterized by an abnormally tight, short, and thick lingual frenulum restricting the tongue’s movement. This functional impairment can hinder a child’s ability to maintain an effective latch and suckle, and may lead to complex breastfeeding difficulties. This qualitative research study focused on exploring the experiences of mothers who have breastfed or attempted to breastfeed a baby with tongue-tie, including how it affected their emotional well-being, relationships and future feeding practices, and to explore their perceptions of the healthcare received and the effect of the tongue-tie release. A qualitative description study design was used. Two focus group sessions were conducted with a total of nine participants. Content analysis using constant comparison revealed a common story of struggle between the expectations of the mothers and their actual experiences of feeding a child with tongue-tie. The themes that emerged were emotional well-being, lack of priority for the breastfeeding relationship, lack of systemic support for tongue-tie, strain on relationships, and the mothers’ perception of the child’s experience pre and post tongue-tie release.