Parc Taulí specializes in dealing with lingual frenulum with a Surgical Breastfeeding Unit

Parc Taulí is a care center that adapts to the needs and changes that occur in society to guarantee the best quality of care for its patients.

The Pediatric Surgery service observed that in the last three years there had been a threefold increase in inquiries from families about lingual frenulum in babies. It has gone from dealing with around 70 cases a year until 2020, to around 250 cases a year in the last three years.

Faced with this demand, the service decided to respond to families with the creation, a year ago, of one Surgical Lactation Unit, formed by the team of midwives and two pediatric surgeons, Dra. Begoña Sánchez and Dr. Mireia Gaspar, specialized in this alteration of the language and in breastfeeding.

In this unit, babies referred from Primary Care or from the same hospital where the different cases are studied are evaluated. Families are attended to within a maximum of 24-48 hours. "We detected the need and created this circuit from primary care to give a quick, almost simultaneous response to help mothers with breastfeeding problems", explained Dr. Bernardo Núñez, director of the Pediatric Surgery team at Parc Taulí.

On the day of the visit, the frenet is assessed and if it is dependent on treatment, the care professionals inform the parents of the option to practice the lingual fre section. The intervention is carried out at that moment and aims to help the child and the mother in breastfeeding.

What problems and discomfort can the baby's short lingual brake cause?

Ankyloglossia is a malformation of the tongue, quite common, and occurs when the lingual frenulum (the membrane located under the tongue) is very short or may be inserted very close to the tip of the tongue.

"This situation causes the mother physical discomfort, because it hurts when she breastfeeds the baby. And also mental, because the child does not gain weight even if he is at the breast for a long time, he is not completely satisfied and is irritable”, explains Dra. B. Sanchez.

Other problems related to ankyloglossia can be malformation of the jaw; dental problems, such as dental malocclusion or the formation of a space between the lower front teeth; difficulty in self-cleaning performed by the tongue, which can contribute to the appearance of cavities and inflammation of the gums (gingivitis); or difficulties in pronouncing some such as /t/, /d/, /n/, /l/ or /rr/. Although these problems are of appearance and treatment in later ages.