My name is Tracey and I'm starting a campaign to raise awareness of something called lip-tie. It’s a condition that lots of babies are born with (10%-15% of the population) and can affect jaw and dental development, breathing, chewing, swallowing and digestion.  Tongue and/or lip ties are also associated with reflux, which can cause significant pain for baby and may result in the need for medication. It’s as it sounds, their lip is ‘tied’ to their gums by an extra bit of skin – the degree of tie can vary – sometimes it can cause no problem at all, and other times can be more serious.

The reason I am doing this is because I have discovered, completely by accident, our precious Olivia has it. It is not checked for at birth and in fact health visitors and midwives don’t seem to even have heard of it.

Due to her lip-tie I was forced to combination feed after five days of breast feeding as the pain I encountered was beyond my limit . As a new mother I was very upset about it and felt like a failure who couldn’t provide for my own baby. Little did I know that it wasn’t me at all.

Since finding out myself and posting on forums about it, other Mums have discovered their little ones have it too, and indeed now know why there were initial issues with feeding.

My aim is for all babies to be checked at birth for lip tie and for the correct guidance given regarding feeding issues and the possibility of treatment where necessary. Also for anyone who has a baby in the future to be aware of its existence so they can check themselves and be aware of its potential problems.

We need 10,000 signatures to get a response from the NHS so please ask as many friends and family members to sign our petition as possible, even if they are not directly affected by this, they may benefit from this one day. About 40 years ago it was semi routine to snip a baby's frenulum as part of the post birth care. With the rise in bottle feeding in the 1970's the practice fell out of favor and professionals lost the ability to detect tongue ties. LETS GET IT BACK.

EDP and evening news article link - http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/health/norwich_couple_s_bid_to_raise_awareness_of_lip_tie_condition_1_3427568