Dentists and lactation consultants around the country are pushing “tongue-tie releases” on new mothers struggling to breastfeed.

Tess Merrell had breastfed three babies and never expected trouble with her fourth. But after a month of struggling with her newborn, she hired Melanie Henstrom for help.

Ms. Henstrom, a lactation consultant, identified a culprit: The infant’s tongue was tethered to the bottom of her mouth. It was a common problem, she said, and could be fixed with a quick procedure at a dentist’s office.

“It was touted as this miracle cure,” said Ms. Merrell, a high school soccer coach in Boise, Idaho.

Ms. Henstrom recommended a dentist, who in December 2017 cut under the baby’s tongue with a laser. Within days, the infant, Eleanor, was refusing to eat and had become dangerously dehydrated, medical records show. She spent her first Christmas on a feeding tube.

  • RaincoatsGeorge@lemmy.zip
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    11 months ago

    So this is absolutely a medical condition (ankyloglossia) that can occur and does at times require surgical intervention, but just doing it for every baby that has issues breast feeding is a bit of a stretch.

    • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Stretch? It sounds like straight up medical malpractice. Performing any unnecessary procedure under the guise of necessity should always be viewed as malpractice. Yes, that means upselling “doctors” are committing medical malpracrice, but good luck punishing them when capitalism only rewards them.

      • vexikron@lemmy.zip
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        11 months ago

        Yep, totally medically unnecessary mutilation of children.

        Just like circumcision!

        If you are an American male, theres a good chance your parents decided to geld you quite literally because ‘everyone else was doing it!’

        • eatthecake@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Male circumcision is bad enough, there’s no need to quite literally lie and pretend it’s castration.